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An  ti- Japanese 
War  Scare  Stories 


SIDNEY  L.  GULICK 


siinanaiailnaiifisiifiiniiishlili 


Anti-Japanese 
War-scare  Stories 


Anti -Japanese 
War-scare  Stories 


BY 

SIDNEY  L.  GULICK 


New  York        Chicago        Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London       and       Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1917,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


Qt^l 


New    York:    158    Fifth    Avenuel 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:     21    Paternoster    Square 
Edinburgh:     xoo    Princes    Street 


FOREWORD 

In  speaking  widely  over  the  country  I  con- 
stantly meet  open-minded  men  and  women 
who  desire  to  know  the  real  facts  with  regard 
to  American-Japanese  relations.  They  have 
heard  so  many  alarming  statements,  made  ap- 
parently on  the  best  of  authority,  that  they 
have  developed  serious  doubts  of  Japan's 
character  and  especially  of  her  attitude 
toward,  and  purposes  regarding  the  United 
States. 

As  I  have  answered  question  after  ques- 
c)  tion  and  have  presented  unimpeachable  facts, 
their  minds  have  become  profoundly  relieved 
and  they  have  urged  me  to  write  down  my 
statements,  and  the  refutations  of  the  stories 
which  had  so  distorted  their  opinions. 

This  repeated  request  I  have  tried  to  meet 
w:^in  the  following  pages.  I  have  tried  to  pre- 
---Tsent  the  material  as  though  I  were  talking  to 
a  personal  friend.  If  in  looking  it  over  the 
reader  finds  assertions  that  do  not  accord 
with  what  he  believes  to  be  the  facts,  I  will 
consider  it  a  personal  favor  if  he  will  kindly 

5 


6  Foreword 

write  me,  giving  his  understanding  of  the 
case  and  the  evidence  supporting  his  view- 
point. What  we  all  wish  is  the  truth  and 
nothing  but  the  truth;  the  facts  and  all  the 
facts. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  In  the  standard 
phrase,  that  '*I  hold  no  brief  for  Japan."  I 
do  not  maintain  that  her  international  poli- 
cies and  procedures  have  been  Immaculate.  I 
do  not  hold  that  her  treatment  of  China  has 
been  above  criticism. 

But  I  do  contend  that  nothing  that  Japan 
has  done  or  failed  to  do  justifies  Americans 
In  circulating  falsehoods  about  her  plans, 
purposes,  character  and  doings.  We  must  be 
true  and  fair  In  our  thinking  about  her,  and 
this  for  our  own  sakes,  no  less  than  for  hers. 
We  cannot  expect  her  to  be  friendly  toward 
us  and  fair  in  her  plans  and  preparations  for 
the  future,  If  our  people  are  fed  by  a  continu- 
ous stream  of  falsehood  in  regard  to  her  and 
are  made  to  distrust  her  every  move  and  dis- 
count her  every  word. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  period  of  active 
anti-Japanese  propaganda  has  ceased.  The 
poison  of  the  past,  however,  still  remains  in 
our  system.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  this  brief 
statement  concerning  widely  circulated  false- 


Foreword  7 

hoods  may  serve  as  an  antidote  for  the 
poison.  It  may  be  well  to  add  that  no  one 
is  responsible  for  anything  in  this  pamphlet 
save  myself. 

Sidney  L,  Gulick. 

New  York,  Nov.  15,  191 7. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword S 

Viscount    Ishii    and    His    Message    in 

America ii 

The  Anti-Japanese  Campaign  in  America  .  i8 

The  Hearst  Yellow  Peril  Hoax 20 

Magdalena  Bay  Stories 24 

The  Turtle  Bay  Story 30 

Japanese  Troops  in  Mexico 31 

Japanese  Troops  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  35 

Japanese  Troops  in  the  Philippines.  ...  36 

Japanese  Spies 37 

American  Spies  in  Japan 39 

A  Japanese  Spy  in  Manila 40 

Japan's  Relations  with  Mexico 40 

Alleged  Japanese   Plans   to   Seize  the 

Philippines 42 

An  Anti- Japanese  Hymn  of  Hate 48 

Insulting  Cartoons 50 

Some    Samples    of    Anti-Japanese    Edi- 
torials   51 

Garbled  Quotations  from  the  Japanese 

Press 53 

Congressman  Britten's  Statements 56 

Japan's  Plan  to  Attack  the  United  States 

IN  1914 57 

9 


10  Contents 


PAGE 


Japanese  Business  Immorality 60 

German  Intrigue 64 

A  Falsified  Cablegram 65 

Another  Cablegram 67 

Anti-American    War-Scare     Stories    in 

Japan 70 

A  Japanese  Misrepresentation  of  Amer- 
ica's Ambitions 77 

Conclusion 79 

After-word — The   Lansing-Ishii    Under- 
standing    83 


ANTI-JAPANESE 
WAR-SCARE  STORIES 


VISCOUNT  ISHII  AND  HIS  MESSAGE 
IN  AMERICA 

The  coming  to  the  United  States  of  the 
Japanese  War  Mission  headed  by  Viscount 
Ishii  has  proved  a  notable  event  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  relations  of  America  and  Japan. 
From  the  time  of  their  landing  in  San  Fran- 
cisco (August  12,  191 7)  until  the  culmina- 
tion of  their  work  at  the  memorable  dinner 
given  by  Mayor  Mitchell  in  New  York  City, 
September  29th,  the  Mission  has  received  a 
steady  stream  of  welcome  in  the  cities  visited. 
The  Viscount  made  a  memorable  series  of  ad- 
dresses. His  utterances  were  notable  for 
their  form  as  well  as  for  their  noble  senti- 
ments. The  addresses  of  members  of  the 
War  Missions  from  Europe  were  not  more 
notable  and  worthy  of  wide  hearing  than 
have  been  those  made  by  members  of  the 
War  Mission  from  Japan. 
11 


12     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

Among  the  matters  which  the  Viscount  re- 
peatedly emphasized  was  the  disastrous  con- 
sequences of  the  Insidious  German  campaign 
of  misstatement  and  Insinuation  carried  on 
for  ten  years  to  estrange  the  feelings  of 
America  and  Japan. 

Not  only  In  this  country  but  before  he  left 
Japan  the  Viscount  often  referred  to  the  Ger- 
man propaganda. 

*^NothwIthstandIng  the  Indefatigable  ef- 
forts of  Germans  to  bring  about  discord  be- 
tween Japan  and  the  United  States  the  two 
countries  are  now  practically  allied,  making 
common  front  against  Germany.'^ 

These  words,  spoken  at  his  farewell  din- 
ner in  Tokyo,  have  found  frequent  reitera- 
tion in  his  addresses  In  America.  Both  In  the 
House  and  in  the  Senate,  as  reported  by  the 
press,  he  referred  to  this  matter. 

**He  warned  the  House  to  be  on  guard 
against  the  insidious  treachery  ^that  has 
found  hiding-place  in  our  midst  and  which 
for  the  last  ten  years  has  sown  seeds  of  dis- 
cord between  us.'  " 

Senator  Saulsbury,  introducing  the  Vis- 
count in  the  Senate,  said:  "We  know  how 
Industriously  insidious  attempts  have  been 
made  by  the  Prussian  masters  of  the  German 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories     13 

people  to  bring  about  distrust  and  hatred  in 
the  world.  The  yellow  peril  was  made  in 
Germany/'  The  Viscount  in  his  addresses 
referred  incidentally  to  the  '^hired  slanderer" 
and  **the  criminal  plotter"  who  seek  to  em- 
broil international  relations. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  welcome  given  by 
the  National  Press  Club  at  Washington 
(September  22)  the  Viscount  made  the  fol- 
lowing statements,  as  reported  in  the  press : 

*^I  am  quite  confident  that  some  day  the 
eyes  of  all  men  who  honestly  endeavor  to 
present  the  truth,  will  be  opened  and  that  the 
truth  about  Japan  and  about  America  will 
be  revealed. 

*Tor  more  than  ten  years  a  propaganda 
has  been  carried  on  in  this  country,  in  Japan, 
and,  in  fact,  throughout  the  world,  for  the 
one  and  sole  purpose  of  keeping  the  nations 
of  the  Far  East  and  the  Far  West  as  far 
apart  as  possible ;  to  break  up  existing  treaties 
and  understanding;  to  create  distrust,  sus- 
picion, and  unkindly  feeling  between  neigh- 
bors in  the  east  and  in  the  west,  and  all  in 
order  that  Germany  might  secure  advant- 
age in  the  confusion. 

^^The  world  was  flooded  with  tales  of 
Japan's  military  aspirations  and  Japan's  du- 


14    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

plicity.  Have  these  been  borne  out  by  his- 
tory? Even  now  the  German  publicity  agent 
whispers  first  in  your  ear  and  then  in  mine. 
To  the  accompaniment  of  appeals  to  the  hu- 
man heart,  he  tells  to  me  stories  of  your 
duplicity  and  to  you  of  mine, 

*'These  agents  have  been  supplied  with  un- 
limited resources.  No  wonder  we  have  been 
deceived.  A  short  time  ago,  a  bad  blunder 
gave  us  a  clue.  The  Zimmermann  note  to 
Mexico  involving  Japan,  was  a  blunder.  It 
made  such  a  noise  that  we  were  disturbed  in 
our  slumbers  and  so  were  you.  This  gave  a 
check  for  a  time,  but  since  then  the  agents 
have  been  hard  at  work. 

'Xet  me  tell  you  a  piece  of  secret  history. 
When  it  became  known  to  us  that  the  Ameri- 
can and  British  Governments  were  alike  de- 
sirous of  entering  into  a  general  treaty  of  ar- 
bitration, but  that  they  found  the  making  of 
such  a  treaty  was  precluded  by  the  terms  of 
the  British  alliance  with  Japan,  as  they  then 
stood,  it  was  not  with  the  consent  of  Japan, 
but  it  was  because  of  Japan's  spontaneous 
offer,  that  the  stipulations  of  the  alliance 
were  revised  (July  13,  1911)  so  that  no 
obstacle  might  be  put  in  the  way  of  the  pro- 
posed treaty.    As  you  know,  Article  four  of 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    15 

the  new  Anglo-Japanese  treaty,  now  in  effect, 
excluded  the  United  States  from  its  opera- 
tion. This  is  a  true  account  of  the  genesis 
of  that  clause.  It  was  Japan's  own  idea — 
her  own  contribution  to  the  cause  of  univer- 
sal peace. 

**Now,  if  Japan  had  the  remotest  inten- 
tion of  appealing  to  arms  against  America, 
how  could  she  thus  voluntarily  have  re- 
nounced the  all-important  cooperation  of 
Great  Britain?  It  would  have  been  wildly 
quixotic. 

'^There  is,  one  may  surely  be  safe  in  say- 
ing, only  one  way  to  interpret  this  attitude  of 
Japan.  It  is  a  most  signal  proof — if,  indeed, 
any  proof  is  needed — that  to  the  Japanese 
Government  and  nation  anything  like  armed 
conflict  with  America  is  simply  unthinkable." 

In  New  York  Viscount  Ishii  returned  to 
the  matter  of  German  anti-Japanese  cam- 
paign in  the  address  given  at  the  welcome 
dinner  of  the  Japan  Society. 

'The  strange  thing  about  all  this  muddle 
of  misunderstanding  in  the  past  years  is  that 
we  have  discovered  a  common  characteristic 
in  both  the  Japanese  and  Americans.  We 
have  both  been  too  confiding,  and  at  the  same 
time  too  suspicious  and  sensitive.    We  have 


16    Anti- Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

harbored  the  German  and  we  have  received 
him  as  a  mutual  friend.  His  marvelous  self- 
centered  and  ordered  existence,  his  system, 
his  organization,  and  his  all-pervading  self- 
assertion,  coupled  with  the  insistence  of  the 
greatness  of  his  fatherland,  have  appealed  to 
us  until,  in  a  state  of  hypnotic  sleep,  we  have 
allowed  him  to  bring  us  almost  to  the  verge 
of  mutual  destruction. 

''The  agent  of  Germany  in  this  country 
and  in  ours  has  had  as  his  one  purpose  the 
feeding  of  our  passions,  our  prejudices  and 
our  distrust  on  a  specially  prepared  German 
concoction  until,  drugged  and  inflamed,  we 
might  have  taken  the  irrevocable  step  over 
the  edge,  and  at  his  leisure  the  vulture  might 
have  fattened  upon  our  remains. 

*'This  is  not  a  picture  overdrawn.  It  is 
true." 

At  the  tomb  of  Washington,  Viscount  Ishii 
made  a  statement  in  his  address  which  should 
be  known  by  every  American  who  wishes  to 
understand  the  attitude  of  Japan  toward 
America. 

''Washington  was  an  American,  but  Amer- 
ica, great  as  she  is,  powerful  as  she  is,  can  lay 
no  exclusive  claim  to  this  immortal  name. 
Washington  is  now  a  citizen  of  the  world, 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories     17 

to-day  he  belongs  to  all  mankind.  Japan 
claims  interest  in  this  holy  circle.  She  yields 
to  none  in  reverence  and  respect,  nor  Is  there 
any  gulf  between  the  ancient  East  and  the 
new-born  West  too  deep  and  wide  for  the 
hearts  and  the  understanding  of  her  people 
to  cross." 

These  are  words  of  sober  earnestness  and 
fact.  For  no  people  outside  of  America  has 
so  completely  and  enthusiastically  adopted 
for  reverence  and  veneration  the  name  of 
Washington — and  I  may  add  of  Lincoln  also 
— as  has  Japan.  In  tens  of  thousands  of  her 
schools  the  stories  of  their  lives  are  admir- 
ingly Instilled  Into  the  minds  of  the  youth. 
Their  portraits  hang  in  thousands  of  Japan- 
ese schools.  Japan  has  literally  adopted  our 
Washington  and  our  Lincoln  into  the 
Pantheon  of  her  heroes. 

These  utterances  of  the  Viscount  and  what 
they  reveal  should  be  widely  proclaimed 
among  our  people. 


18    Anti- Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


THE  ANTI-JAPANESE  CAMPAIGN 
IN  AMERICA 

The  writer  does  not  believe  that  German 
intrigue  and  German  gold  are  the  exclusive 
cause  of  the  anti-Japanese  campaign  in  Amer- 
ica. It  seems  to  him,  as  the  result  of  much 
study  of  this  matter,  that  other  causes  have 
also  been  at  work. 

First  of  all  there  has  been  a  real  problem 
on  the  Pacific  coast.  There  have  been  real 
conflicts  of  interest  and  real  economic  strug- 
gle. There  has  been  real  friction  between 
American  and  Japanese  laborers  and  be- 
tween American  employers  and  Japanese 
labor.  Certain  large  interests  also  have  had 
a  part  in  this  matter.  They  have  desired  the 
expenditure  of  United  States  army  and  navy 
appropriations  on  the  Pacific  coast.  One  of 
its  advocates  admitted  to  a  friend  of  mine,  in 
1 9 ID,  that  there  was  no  real  danger  to  the 
Pacific  coast  from  Japan,  but  it  was  im- 
portant to  insist  that  there  was,  because  the 
expenditure  of  tens  of  millions  of  United 
States  funds  for  fortifications,  barracks, 
docks  and  the  commissary  supplies  for  large 


Anti- Japanese  War-scare  Stories     19 

naval  and  military  bases  would  bring  the 
Pacific  coast  great  and  permanent  pros- 
perity. 

Furthermore,  it  has  been  notable,  that  for 
a  dozen  years  whenever  bills  have  been  be- 
fore Congress  calling  for  substantial  increase 
in  the  navy,  a  flood  of  scare  stories  has  gone 
out  over  the  country  telling  of  the  dangers 
we  face  and  the  need  of  more  battleships. 
In  these  scare  stories,  Ja^an  figured  prom- 
inently. Honorable  R.  P.  Hobson  was  an 
ardent  advocate  of  a  larger  navy,  basing  his 
arguments  to  no  small  degree  on  the  menace 
of  Japan.  He  repeatedly  prophesied  most 
definitely  on  the  date  of  Japan's  impending 
attack — namely,  before  the  completion  of 
the  Panama  Canal. 

And  finally,  there  is  the  natural  human  in- 
terest of  Americans,  as  indeed  of  any  people, 
in  startling  stories  of  danger  and  of  im- 
minent war.  The  press  too  often  readily  ac- 
cepts sensational  ''news"  without  trying  to 
find  out  whether  or  not  the  ''facts''  alleged 
are  really  true.  We  all  read  with  avidity 
*'new's"  sensationally  and  plausibly  written 
with  startling  headlines,  especially  when  it 
is  assigned  to  a  "responsible  source,"  whose 
name,  of  course,  "cannot  be  given." 


20    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

Now,  I  do  not  for  a  moment  believe  that 
the  press  or  the  men  referred  to  in  general  in 
the  above  statements  had  any  interest  what- 
soever in  the  German  propaganda,  or  re- 
ceived any  German  gold  for  what  they  did. 
And  yet  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  German 
influence  could  utilize  the  above  agencies  for 
pushing  forward  its  own  ends. 

In  the  statements  given  in  the  following 
pages  I  shall  not  attempt  to  estimate  the 
sources  for  the  various  stories.  This,  indeed, 
would  probably  be  impossible  save,  perhaps, 
in  a  few  instances.  I  content  myself  with  a 
brief  recital  of  those  particular  anti-Japanese 
stories  that  I  had  had  occasion  and  oppor- 
tunity to  investigate  and  the  results  of  that 
investigation. 


THE  HEARST  YELLOW-PERIL 
HOAX 

In  October,  19 15,  The  San  Francisco  Ex' 
aminer  published  in  two  successive  Sunday 
editions  on  a  double  page,  the  alleged  trans- 
lation of  a  Japanese  book.  The  startling 
headlines  read: 

"Japan's  Plans  to  Invade  and  Conquer  the 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    21 

United  States  Revealed  by  Its  Own  Bern- 
hardi." 

Other  prominent  titles  read  as  follows: 

*The  First  Presentation  to  the  American 
Public  of  a  Highly  Significant  Book  (the 
Most  Popular  in  Japan  and  Issued  by  Its 
Powerful  and  Official  National  Defense  As- 
sociation), Which  Tells  Why  the  Japanese 
are  Determined  to  Declare  War  upon  Us 
and  How  They  Expect  to  Win.  This  First 
Installment  Deals  with  Japan's  Opinion  of 
Our  Men  and  Women,  Our  Morals  and  Our 
^Contemptible  Army  and  Navy\" 

*'How  Japan  is  Inflaming  Its  People 
Against  the  United  States  and  the  First  Hint 
of  Its  War  Plans." 

The  editorial  introduction  states  that  the 
book  was  **not  written  by  one  writer  but  by 
a  very  powerful  society  in  Japan  known  as 
the  National  Defense  Association,  and  that 
naval  officers,  army  officers,  cabinet  and 
government  officers  are  members  of  this  so- 
ciety; that  its  president  is  now  Count  Okuma, 
the  Premier  of  Japan  and  its  last  president 
was  ex-Premier  Count  Yamamoto.'*  The 
editorial  also  states  that  *^more  than  a  mil- 
lion copies  had  been  sold."  The  translation 
is    **strictly    literal"    by    **the    well-known 


22    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

American  writer,  Lawrence  Mott,  in  collabo- 
ration with  Mr.  Hain  Jon  Kia,  a  distin- 
guished Chinese  writer  and  scholar." 

"In  view  of  General  Bernhardi's  similar 
book  and  its  sequel,  this  paper  believes  that 
it  is  performing  a  real  service  to  its  readers 
by  making  them  acquainted  with  the  ideas 
and  plans  of  this  Japanese  Bernhardi,  who  is, 
as  Mr.  Mott  says,  *a  composite  of  the  most 
influential  leaders  of  all  Japan'." 

A  facsimile  of  the  title  page  of  the  Japan- 
ese book  is  given,  and  also  of  a  **popular 
picture  of  Japan's  Invading  Army  Landing 
at  San  Francisco." 

The  following  week  in  addition  to  the  gen- 
eral headlines  and  introduction  repeated 
from  the  previous  week,  a  large  amount  of 
freshly  invented  ^^translation"  is  given  and 
also  *^The  Humiliating  Terms  of  Peace 
which  Japan  Expects  to  Force  upon  a  Beaten 
United  States."  Among  these  alleged  terms 
are  the  surrender  to  Japan  of  the  Philippine 
and  Hawaiian  Islands;  permission  of  free 
Japanese  immigration;  permission  for  free 
marriage  of  Japanese  men  to  American  wo- 
men; Japanese  rights  in  American  schools; 
rights  of  naturalization  after  three  years; 
full  rights  of  land  ownership ;  preference  for 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    23 

Japanese  in  educational  positions;  payment 
of  one-half  of  Japan's  war  expenses;  the  use 
by  Japan,  free  of  charge,  of  all  dry  docks  and 
harbors;  and  also  specifications  as  to  taxes 
and  import  duties. 

Investigation  showed  that  these  two  issues 
were  reproduced  in  many  Hearst  and  related 
papers  in  many  parts  of  America.  They 
were  read  with  avidity  and  aroused  intense 
indignation,  at  least  in  California,  against 
Japan  and  the  Japanese. 

What  now  are  the  facts? 

1.  The  title  page  of  the  book  reproduced 
in  facsimile  by  the  Examiner  has,  in  addition 
to  the  main  title  ''Nichi-Bei  Kai-Sen'* 
(Japan-America  Open-War),  the  added 
title,  ''Yume  Monogatari"  (Dream  Story). 
The  book  itself  professes,  therefore,  on  its 
front  page  to  be  a  romance !  No  Japanese 
would  be  for  a  moment  misled  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  contents. 

2.  Published  in  1913,  by  1915  the  first 
edition  of  2000  was  not  sold  out! 

3.  The  author  is  anonymous.  It  is  not  the 
work  of  Count  Okuma  or  of  any  other  im- 
portant man  or  group  of  men. 


24    Anti- Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

4.  There  is  in  Japan  no  ^'National  De- 
fense Association/'  There  is,  of  course,  an 
'^Imperial  Defense  Commission"  composed 
of  high  officials  of  the  army  and  navy  ap- 
pointed by  the  regular  authorities,  but  no 
^^Association"  as  asserted  by  the  translator. 

5.  The  allegation  that  Count  Okuma  is  its 
president  is  of  course  pure  fabrication. 

6.  The  alleged  translation  is  almost 
wholly  barefaced  Invention  of  the  **transla- 
tor." 

7.  The  ^^Humiliating  Terms  of  Peace" 
are  the  imaginings  of  the  translator  and  not 
the  work  of  the  anonymous  author! 


MAGDALENA  BAY  STORIES 

For  many  years,  stories  have  been  periodi- 
cally circulated  to  the  effect  that  the  Japanese 
Government  was  negotiating  with  Mexico 
for  a  naval  base  in  Lower  California.  The 
place  chosen  by  the  myth-makers  for  such  a 
base  was  Magdalena  Bay. 

President  David  Starr  Jordan  has  repeat- 
edly exposed  the  folly  of  the  proposal.  A 
recent  renewal  of  the  story  led  a  friend  to 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    25 

write  President  Jordan  about  the  matter  to 
which  the  following  reply  was  made : 

May  2,  1917. 

Dear  Sir: 

"I  have  had  no  particular  information  from  Mag- 
dalena  Bay  within  the  last  four  years.  It  is  a  re- 
markably fine  harbor  but  situated  in  a  rainless  dis- 
trict and  the  only  water  near  the  little  village  is 
from  a  spring  that  bubbles  up  on  the  edge  of  the 
sea  on  one  of  the  islands  near  by. 

"There  was  once  a  colony  composed  of  New  Eng- 
land people  who  collected  from  the  rocks  the  lichen 
called  orchil  which  made  a  yellowish  dye  which  was 
called  cudbear  and  which  disappeared  from  the  mar- 
ket when  the  German  aniline  dyes  came  in.  The 
village  was  then  virtually  abandoned. 

"Some  years  ago  my  good  friend  Aurelio  Sando- 
val, of  Los  Angeles,  established  a  cannery  for  crabs 
and  turtles  (which  are  very  abundant  in  the  bay) 
there.  He  had  about  six  Japanese,  the  foreman  hav- 
ing been  drawn  from  the  Japanese  sardine  cannery 
at  Sakai  near  Osaka.  This  cannery  failed  because 
of  the  high  tariff  on  tin.  The  other  workmen  were 
crab-catchers  and  were  picked  up  in  Mexico;  with 
them  were  about  a  half  dozen  Chinese  and  about 
100  Mexicans;  these  latter  did  not  prove  very  satis- 
factory workmen  and  in  1913  or  '14,  Mr.  Sandoval 
gave  up  the  enterprise. 

"The  old  stories  of  Magdalena  Bay  were  purely 
lies ;  I  have  no  doubt  the  new  ones  are  also.  I  will, 
however,  write  to  Mr.  Sandoval. 


26    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

"The  distinguished  general,  self-appointed, 
Homer  Lea,  used  occasionally  to  drill  Chinese  boys 
about  Los  Angeles  with  broom-sticks;  maybe  the 
Japanese  cannery  men  amuse  themselves  in  similar 
methods.  Knowing  that  there  were  only  six  Japan- 
ese at  the  time  when  the  Hearst  journals  insisted 
that  there  were  60,000  at  Magdalena  Bay,  I  am  not 
prepared  to  place  any  limits  on  the  capacity  for 
lying  which  may  be  exhibited  along  this  coast/* 

A  NEW  MAGDALENA  BAY  STORY 

April  21,  1 91 7,  members  of  Congress  re- 
ceived a  communication  urging  action  on  a 
certain  bill  then  pending.    It  read  as  follows : 

"From:  Dr.  A.  L.  Boyce,  19  West  44th  Street, 
New  York  City. 

"To :  Members  of  the  65th  Congress,  the  Capitol, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

"Subject:  Fish,  Broomsticks  and  Rifles. 

"I  lunched  last  week  with  a  shipbuilder  who  had 
just  returned  from  a  trip  to  the  Pacific  Coast. 

"This  shipbuilder  said,  T  saw  thousands  of  Japan- 
ese fishing  all  the  morning  at  Magdalena  Bay,  Mex- 
ico, and  drilling  all  the  afternoon,  and  such  wonder- 
ful drilling  you  never  saw  in  all  your  life — perfect 
— and  Dr.  Boyce,  they  had  modern  rifles.' 

"This  shipbuilder,  whose  name  and  address  will 
be  furnished  on  request  is  now  drilling  with  the 
civilian  rookies  on  Governor's  Island,  New  York 
City,  with  a  wooden  gun. 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    27 

'^On  April  12th,  I  bought  500  more  broomsticks 
in  order  that  none  of  our  students  need  drill  without 
something  in  his  hand,  but  as  1500  men  came  to  drill 
on  April  14th,  we  are  but  little  better  off  and  will 
have  to  buy  500  more  broomsticks  unless  we  get  the 
use  of  some  Kregs  that  are  stored  on  the  Island. 

'In  view  of  all  this  how  can  anyone  fail  to  realize 
the  importance  of  Congress  passing  the  Chamber- 
lain Bill  S.  I.  without  emasculation." 

On  April  22nd  I  received  a  letter  from 
Hon.  J.  L.  Slayden  asking  me  to  investigate 
this  statement  about  ^'thousands  of  Japanese 
fishing  all  the  morning  and  drilling  all  the 
afternoon,"  and  to  see  the  ^'shipbuilder." 

I  did  so,  and  had  a  personal  conversation 
with  him.  It  turned  out  that  he  was  not  a 
^'shipbuilder"  but  the  president  of  the  "Vent- 
Lite  Shade  Adjuster  Co."  When  I  talked 
with  him  he  told  in  detail  of  his  visit  to 
Lower  California  with  a  view  to  possibilities 
of  shipbuilding.  Knowing  of  my  proposed 
call  and  the  purpose  of  it  he  had  prepared  a 
statement  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Boyce,  a  copy  of  which  he  gave  me  and  which 
I  here  reproduce,  omitting  the  first  para- 
graph which  merely  tells  of  his  journey. 

"One  evening  about  sunset  we  observed  at  some 
little  distance  a  large  number  of  men  in  the  act  of 


28    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

drilling.  This  being  unusual,  we  made  inquiry  of  a 
Mexican  who  informed  us  that  the  men  we  ob- 
served, some  4,000  in  number,  were  'Los  Japanese/ 
The  drilling  as  observed  by  us  and  especially  by  my- 
self, possessing  as  I  do  much  military  drilling  ex- 
perience, was  as  good  as  any  that  I  have  ever  wit- 
nessed. I  was  informed  that  they  carried  Crag- 
jorsin  and  other  rifles.  Further  interested  inquiry 
revealed  the  fact  that  these  men  fished  part  of  the 
day  and  drilled  the  remainder,  particularly  in  the 
late  afternoon.  The  men  were  not  uniformed  but 
were  armed. 

"Nothing  of  any  importance  was  placed  on  this 
at  first;  but,  being  surprised  at  this  information  I 
addressed  our  informant  in  Spanish,  which  language 
I  speak  fluently;  but  he  suddenly  became  silent  and 
the  coin  I  offered  him  was  of  no  avail.  Indeed,  no 
pursuasion  would  cause  him  to  speak  further.  On 
the  contrary,  much  to  our  surprise  he  suddenly  dis- 
appeared along  the  trail  which  we  were  to  take  on 
our  return  and  we  could  procure  no  further  infor- 
mation from  anyone  whom  we  after  encountered. 
Especially  reluctant  was  our  guide  whom  we  en- 
gaged at  La  Paz.  Incidently,  I  might  state  that  our 
visit  was  far  from  welcome,  especially  by  the  Mex- 
icans. 

''This  information  is  in  line  with  that  which  I 
gave  you  in  person  and  if  I  can  be  of  any  service  to 
you  or  the  gentlemen  of  Congress,  I  will  be  glad  to 
serve  you,  busy  as  I  am,  for  patriotic  reason,  irre- 
spective of  any  inconvenience  that  it  might  cause 
me." 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    29 

On  reading  the  statement  I  inquired  how 
far  away  were  the  troops  which  he  had  seen. 

**About  one-eighth  of  a  mile/'  he  replied. 

''Could  you  recognize  the  faces  as  Japan- 
ese?'' 

''Oh,  no." 

"Did  they  wear  uniforms?" 

"No.  They  had  on  Mexican  baggy 
trousers  and  big  sombreros." 

"Then  your  only  evidence  that  they  were 
Japanese  was  that  single  statement  of  the 
informant." 

"Yes;  but  they  drilled  so  perfectly  that 
they  could  not  be  Mexicans." 

"Might  not  the  explanation  of  that  be  that 
a  few  Japanese  officers  were  drilling  them?" 

"I  had  not  thought  of  that,"  he  replied. 

After  some  desultory  conversation  I  in- 
quired whether  there  were  many  Japanese 
fishermen  along  the  coast. 

"Yes,  lots  of  them." 

"About  how  many  do  you  suppose?" 

"O,  I  could  not  say." 

"Well,  make  a  guess;  how  many  do  you 
think  you  saw — 5000?" 

"Oh,  no,  not  nearly  so  many." 

"Well,  500?" 

"No,  not  so  many  as  that." 


30    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

*'One  hundred?" 

*Tes,  more  than  that;  perhaps  200.'' 

The  upshot  of  that  interview  satisfied  me 
that  he  had  no  real  evidence  of  ^^Japanese 
troops"  in  Mexico. 

I  can  supply  the  name  of  the  alleged  *^ship- 
builder"  if  needful.  I  do  not  think  he  had 
any  intention  of  deceiving,  or  any  ulterior  or 
malicious  purpose  in  his  statements. 


THE  TURTLE  BAY  STORY 

When  the  Japanese  navy  was  chasing 
German  war-ships  out  of  the  Pacific  Ocean 
in  1914-15,  they  searched  the  coasts  of 
Lower  California.  In  January,  191 5,  the 
Asama  Kan  entered  Turtle  Bay  and 
grounded  in  the  mud.  In  due  time  it  se- 
cured help  from  other  Japanese  vessels, 
landed  its  guns  and  ammunition  on  the  shore 
— a  process  that  required  several  weeks.  In 
the  midst  of  it  an  "enterprising  newspaper- 
man'' wrote  up  a  *^fine  story'' — what  he  saw 
with  his  own  eyes,  absolutely  true  as  to  facts 
and  absolutely  false  as  to  interpretation,  and 
it  got  into  all  the  papers.    The  denial  from 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    31 

Washington  a  few  days  later  received  scant 
attention.  The  reporter  **put  it  over'*  the 
American  people,  earned  his  money,  and  in- 
ternational relations  were  further  embit- 
tered. 

But  **fine  stories"  do  not  easily  die,  even 
though  denounced  by  our  Government.  In 
July,  19 1 6,  Mr.  Henschen  in  an  article  in 
the  Forum,  filled  with  bitter  denunciations  of 
and  insinuations  about  Japan,  made  the  fol- 
lowing statement:  ^'A  high  United  States 
officer  told  me  ^that  we  know  that  the  Japan- 
ese incident  at  Turtle  Bay  was  not  an  acci- 
dent; we  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  ran 
the  war-ship  aground  so  as  to  give  them  an 
excuse  to  make  observations  and  to  prepare 
Turtle  Bay  as  a  landing  place.' '' 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  who  that 
^^High  United  States  officer'^  was. 

JAPANESE  TROOPS  IN  MEXICO 

Since  the  time  of  our  ''peaceful  war  with 
Mexico,''  many  stories  have  been  circulated 
about  Japanese  aid  for  Mexico,  Japanese 
^'alliance''  with  Mexico  and  ''J^P^^^se  troops 
in  Mexico." 


32    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

On  January  30,  191 6,  the  Boston  Sunday 
Globe  stated  that  there  were  ^'90,000  Japan- 
ese In  Hawaii  and  30,000  in  Mexico  organ- 
ized and  ready  to  fight  at  a  moment's  notice." 

A  few  weeks  later,  I  saw  the  statement 
on  *'a  reliable  authority"  that  there  were 
150,000  veteran  Japanese  troops  in  Mexico. 
In  the  June  issue  of  the  Century  Magazine, 
Mr.  Frank  B.  Vrooman  had  a  striking  article 
entitled  ^'Our  Next  Step."  He  there  says 
*'I  am  looking  for  a  coalition  between  Ger- 
many and  Japan  after  the  war  Is  over — I  am 
not  sure  that  it  will  wait  till  peace  Is  signed — 
to  break  the  Monroe  Doctrine  once  for  all. 

**Another  interesting  circumstance  was  the 
reported  discovery,  among  some  captured 
papers  of  Villa,  of  a  treaty  with  Japan  giv- 
ing this  gentleman  a  million  dollars  for  the 
right  to  land  an  army  In  the  United  States. 

*^I  have  been  told  by  an  officer  of  the  staff 
of  the  War  College  at  Washington  that  there 
are  400,000  Japanese  soldiers  In  Mexico." 

The  July  issue  of  the  Forum  contained  the 
rabid  anti-Japanese  article  by  SIgmund 
Henschen,  already  referred  to.  He  there 
states  that  *^the  latest  estimate  of  our  mili- 
tary authorities  show  one  quarter  of  a  million 
Japs  in  Mexico." 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    33 

In  view  of  these  very  specific  figures  given 
on  '*high  authority/'  I  wrote  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of 
Christ  In  America  located  at  Washington, 
asking  him  to  make  inquiries  at  the  Depart- 
ment of  State  and  the  War  College.  After 
his  investigations  he  wrote  me  July  6,  191 6, 
from  which  I  quote  the  following  sentences : 

"At  the  Japanese  Embassy  I  secured  from  the 
Chancellor  a  statement  from  an  official  report  of 
Japan  issued  for  June,  1915,  of  Japanese  in  various 
countries  in  the  world.  According  to  this  state- 
ment there  were  in  June,  191 5,  in  Mexico  B^yz 
Japanese  males  and  16^  females,  making  a  total 
of  2737  in  all.  He  said  of  course  there  were  no 
Japanese  soldiers  as  such  in  Mexico,  There  might 
be  Japanese  laborers  who  had  enlisted  in  the  Mexi- 
can army  for  the  income,  and  some  of  these  per- 
haps may  have  been  advanced  to  subordinate  official 
positions.  Beyond  that  he  did  not  think  that  there 
was  any  truth  in  the  statement  of  Mr.  Vrooman. 

"I  then  went  to  the  War  College  and  saw  the 
particular  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  ascertain  every- 
thing appertaining  to  Mexico  and  the  Mexicans, 
Japan  and  the  Japanese,  and  he  simply  scouted  the 
idea  that  there  were  400,000  Japanese  soldiers  in 
Mexico.  He  did  not  believe  that  there  were  as 
many  as  4.000,  and  when  I  told  him  of  the  number 
reported  to  me  from  the  Japanese  Embassy  of  all 
who  were  in  Mexico,  he  said  he  did  not  think  there 
are  as  many  as  that  in  Mexico  now,  because  some 


34    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

of  the  Japanese  had  come  out  of  the  country  since 
the  outbreak  of  hostilities.  Neither  he  nor  other 
officer  of  the  College  had  miy  idea  as  to  who  had 
made  such  a  statement  to  Mr,  Vrooman.  They  did 
not  wish  to  be  quoted,  but  they  said  I  could  say 
that  the  War  College  had  absolutely  no  authority 
for  any  such  statement." 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  note  that  all  these 
stories  about  masses  of  Japanese  troops  in 
Mexico  have  ceased  to  circulate  since  Jan- 
uary, 191 7.  Had  there  been  truth  in  them, 
the  Japanese  soldiers  would  of  course  still 
be  in  Mexico  and  we  could  not  fail  to  hear 
about  them. 

That  an  able  and  shrewd  man  like  Mr. 
Vrooman  could  really  believe  that  Japan 
made  a  treaty  with  Villa  and  agreed  to  pay 
him  a  million  dollars  for  the  right  to  land 
Japanese  troops  in  Lower  California  is  to 
me  beyond  belief.  Instead  of  describing  the 
report  as  an  ^interesting  circumstance" 
should  he  not  have  described  it  as  a  patent 
falsehood  floated  by  sinister  and  malicious 
interests? 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    35 


JAPANESE  TROOPS  IN  THE 
HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

This  is  a  theme  that  American  jingoes 
frequently  emphasize.  One  statement  I  have 
already  quoted  from  the  Boston  Globe. 

An  ex-cavalry  officer  (whose  name  I  can 
give)  of  the  United  States  Army  who  had 
spent  some  years  in  the  Philippines  told  me 
in  a  personal  conversation  in  December, 
19 1 5,  that  there  were  120,000  Japanese  old 
soldiers  in  Hawaii,  and  that  they  had  their 
arms  in  their  homes  and  were  ready  for  an 
uprising  at  a  moment's  notice.  Fortunately 
I  was  able  to  report  to  him  the  result  of  my 
personal  investigations  at  fifteen  plantations 
— all  the  principal  ones — on  the  three  im- 
portant islands  of  Hawaii  only  nine  months 
previously.  Of  the  89,715  Japanese  popu- 
lation (December,  1914),  Japanese  males 
numbered  54,783  and  females  24,891;  these 
figures  include  children,  of  whom  there  are 
more  than  20,000  boys  and  girls. 

At  the  plantations  one  of  my  standard 
questions  put  to  the  managers  was  in  re- 
gard to  the  story  about  Japanese  soldiers 


36    Anti- Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

and  their  concealed  arms.  Everyone  without 
exception  insisted  that  the  story  was  without 
foundation.  With  many  managers  I  went 
into  the  houses  of  Japanese  workers — many 
of  whom  were  absent  at  their  work.  Man- 
agers go  freely  at  any  time  Into  the  houses 
of  the  workers  and  know  very  completely 
what  Is  In  them.  No  military  weapons  of 
any  kind  have  been  found.  The  assertion 
that  Japanese  soldiers  smuggle  In  their  rifles 
by  the  thousands,  with  the  necessary  ammu- 
nition, Is  one  which  I  should  think  the  cus- 
tom house  officials  would  keenly  resent. 
Those  who  circulate  these  stories  seem  to 
assume  that  all  the  90,000  Japanese  In 
Hawaiia  are  men,  whereas  about  40,000  of 
them  are  women  and  children. 


JAPANESE  TROOPS  IN  THE 
PHILIPPINES 

The  ex-cavalry  officer  referred  to  above 
also  told  me  that  there  were  200,000  Japan- 
ese In  the  Philippines  appearing,  of  course,  as 
laborers,  tradesfolk,  domestics,  etc.,  of  whom 
150,000  were  veteran  troops.    He  rejected 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    37 

my  doubt  saying  that  he  had  lived  there  and 
knew  what  he  was  talking  about 

I  wrote,  however,  to  the  Immigration 
Bureau  at  Washington,  who  referred  me  to 
the  Department  of  War.  From  them  the 
reply  came  that  the  first  census,  taken  in  1903, 
showed  that  the  total  number  of  Japanese 
then  in  the  Philippine  Islands  was  less  than 
a  trifle  over  900  and  that  the  arrivals  and 
departures  in  the  interval  made  the  present 
population  (191 5)  7651,  not  including  chil- 
dren born  in  the  Philippines. 

How  an  American  army  officer  can  make 
such  reckless  statements,  bound  to  rouse  need- 
less suspicion  and  unjustifiable  enmities  on 
the  part  of  those  who  have  no  means  of 
correcting  false  statements,  passes  my  under- 
standing. 


JAPANESE  SPIES 

Stories  of  Japanese  spies  have  been  In- 
vestigated and  have  also  been  found  to  be 
bottomless.  An  officer  in  one  of  our  im- 
portant churches  in  the  Middle  West  assured 
me  with  manifest  indignation  that  Japanese 
had  purchased  a  lot  near  the  Du  Pont  Pow- 


38     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

der  Works  at  Wilmington,  Del.,  in  order  to 
be  able  to  blow  them  up  in  case  of  conflict 
between  America  and  Japan. 

At  the  close  of  that  very  meeting  a  news- 
paper reporter  asked  permission  to  say  a 
word.  He  stated  that  an  important  news 
corporation  in  New  York  had  become  so  in- 
terested in  the  story  that  It  had  sent  a  lawyer 
to  Wilmington  to  investigate  the  facts.  He 
found  no  evidence  whatever  of  any  Japanese- 
owned  lot  in  the  entire  region. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  Japanese 
**secret  service''  men  in  America  keeping 
watch  of  all  that  we  are  doing  and  informing 
their  government.  But  does  not  the  govern- 
ment of  every  other  important  country  in  the 
world  do  the  same? 

But  that  every  Japanese  who  takes  photo- 
graphs or  goes  fishing  or  boating  is  to  be 
suspected  as  a  spy  is  too  ridiculous  for  any 
sober  man  to  accept;  yet  the  daily  papers  fre- 
quently chronicle  a  Japanese  who  is  found  to 
be  taking  photographs  on  the  Hudson  river, 
or  taking  soundings  of  San  Francisco  Bay  or 
Monterey  Bay!  Do  our  newspaper  men  not 
know  that  all  our  bays  and  rivers  are  charted 
and  sounded  and  the  records  published  and 
are  for  sale?    Japanese  spies  are  not  so  fool- 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    39 

ish  as  some  of  our  newspaper  men  apparently 
believe  and  would  make  us  believe. 


AMERICAN  SPIES  IN  JAPAN 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  critics  of  Japan's 
spy  system  that  America  sends  spies  to 
Japan?  The  following  paragraphs  are  taken 
from  the  article  by  Sigmund  Henschen 
already  quoted  above.  He,  of  course,  does 
not  intend  to  disclose  any  American  secrets, 
and  we  have  already  noted  that  his  state- 
ments are  not  absolutely  reliable.  There  is, 
however,  no  reason  to  question  the  accuracy 
of  his  statement  here  in  regard  to  an  Ameri- 
can spy  in  Japan.  But  one  cannot  help  won- 
dering what  Japanese  think  of  American 
spies : 

*'An  American,  whose  name  for  obvious 
reasons  must  be  withheld,  did  secret  service 
work  for  us  In  Japan.  He  is  personally 
known  to  the  writer.  He  has  a  scar  of  a 
bullet  on  his  forearm;  he  got  it  for  going 
too  close  to  the  fortifications  in  the  harbor 
of  Nagasaki,  preferring  the  wound  to  a  term 
in  jail." 


40    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


A  JAPANESE  SPY  IN  MANILA 

Mr.  Henschen  also  discloses  a  story  not 
altogether  creditable  to  America  in  the  case 
of  a  Japanese  who  offered  a  bribe  to  an 
American  sergeant  for  the  plans  of  Corre- 
gidor  Fortress.  '*The  sergeant  delivered  a 
false  set  of  plans  and  asked  for  $50,000. 
.  .  .  They  haggled  over  the  price.  .  .  . 
He  placed  the  Japanese  under  arrest.  .  •  . 
The  Jap  had  the  false  plans,  but  ultimately 
the  Jap  had  to  be  released  because  no  money 
had  changed  hands." 


JAPAN'S  RELATIONS  WITH 
MEXICO 

An  Item  frequently  stressed  by  anti-Japan- 
ese agitators  has  been  the  effort  of  Mexico 
to  secure  Japanese  friendship  to  aid  her  In 
her  opposition  to  America, 

**It  must  not  be  forgotten,"  says  Sigmund 
Henschen,  "that  Felix  Diaz  was  sent  on  a 
special  mission  to  Japan  and  that  just  recently 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    41 

Carranza  sent  one  of  his  high  officials  on  a 
similar  visit." 

Such  writers,  of  course,  find  it  convenient 
not  to  state  that  Japan  has  systematically  re- 
ceived with  significant  coolness  the  advances 
of  Mexico.  Did  these  writers  ever  hear  that 
the  Japanese  Government  went  so  far  as  to 
refuse  official  reception  to  Felix  Diaz? 

The  Mexican  Emmbassy  that  was  on  its 
way  to  Japan  was  actually  stopped  at  Van- 
couver by  the  cablegram  (Feb.,  19 13), 
which  announced  Japan's  decision  not  to  re- 
ceive the  Embassy.  What  a  rebuff  and 
affront! 

And  have  these  hysterical  Japanophobists 
ever  heard  that  Japan  applies  to  Japanese 
emigrants  to  Mexico  the  terms  of  the  "Gen- 
tlemen's Agreement"  with  America?  This 
act  of  self-restraint  is  due  to  Japan's  desire 
to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  America. 


42    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


ALLEGED  JAPANESE  PLANS  TO 
SEIZE  THE  PHILIPPINES 

This  is  the  theme  that  delights  the  jingoes. 
They  see  in  Japanese  papers,  in  Japanese 
naval  maneuvers,  in  Japanese  diplomacy, 
evidences  of  secret  plans  and  astute  policies 
for  the  annexation  of  those  islands. 

A  particularly  acute  case  of  Japanophobia 
developed  in  19 13  when  California  passed 
her  anti-alien  land  law.  While  Count 
Okuma  was  assuring  bellicose  Japanese  that 
there  was  only  one  possible  way  of  settling 
the  American-Japanese  question,  namely  by 
appealing  to  the  Christians  of  America  to 
apply  to  this  problem  the  principles  and  the 
spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  only  American 
papers  but  military  and  naval  officers  in 
America  and  in  the  Philippines,  were  almost 
hysterical  over  the  dangers  of  the  situation 
and  our  unpreparedness  to  meet  it  with  ade- 
quate military  and  naval  forces. 

That  this  statement  is  not  extreme  let  me 
quote  from  the  report  of  a  public  hearing 
given  by  the  House  Committee  on  Naval 
Affairs,  December  15,  1916: 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    43 

**I  am  not  suffering  from  any  vision,'^  de- 
clared Captain  Hobson  before  the  House 
Committee  on  Naval  Affairs.  ''In  May, 
19 13,  and  some  weeks  afterwards,  our 
troops  In  Corregldor  Island  were  busy  by 
day  and  night  with  their  guns.  The  harbors 
were  blockaded  with  mines  and  our  troops 
were  sent  out.  The  Government  Itself  was 
ready  to  go  to  the  Pacific  coast.  The  Sec- 
retary of  the  Navy  Is  present.  I  will  ask 
him.     In  case  It  Is  not  true,  he  can  deny  It.'' 

No  denial  was  made  and  the  jingoes  of 
the  country  were  satisfied  that  America  just 
barely  escaped  war  with  Japan. 

Mr.  Henschen,  whom  I  judge  to  have  been 
a  military  officer  at  that  time  In  the  Philip- 
pines, has  described  the  situation  so  graphic- 
ally that  I  reproduce  It  In  part. 

''There  came  a  cipher  message  to  General 
Bell.  There  came  also  our  mobilization  on 
Corregldor  Island. 

*'It  was  on  May  20,  1913,  that  a  United 
States  Officer's  command  In  an  outlying  dis- 
trict received  an  order  to  report  at  once  to 
Manila.  The  order  was  from  General  Bell. 
That  night  the  same  order  was  received  in 
every  outlying  post  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 
The  mobilization  of  our  troops  in  Manila 


44    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

began.  Speed  was  the  command;  forced 
marches  were  necessary.  The  command  of 
one  officer  covered  fifty  miles  In  forty-eight 
hours.  Arriving  at  Manila  they  found  a 
strict  censorship  had  been  put  on  the  cables. 
They  learned  their  orders.  All  the  American 
forces  were  to  be  concentrated  on  Corregidor 
Island.  They  were  to  prepare  to  combat  a 
Japanese  landing,  the  object  of  which  was 
Manila.  They  were  to  hold  out  till  the  fleet 
came.  If  the  Japanese  landed  at  any  other 
place  It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  they 
would  overrun  the  Islands  until  they  reached 
Manila.  In  Manila  everything  but  guns, 
ammunition  and  food  was  abandoned.  In- 
fantry and  light  artillery  were  transported  to 
Corregidor.  The  cavalry  was,  too;  but  its 
horses  were  left  behind.  All  the  ammuni- 
tion that  could  be  gathered  up  around  the 
islands  was  brought  to  the  fortress.  (Full 
details  follow  of  forces  and  position  given.) 

**Day  by  day  messages  from  the  War  De- 
partment became  more  alarming;  day  by  day, 
to  prevent  a  panic,  the  people  were  told  It 
was  only  a  maneuver;  day  by  day  for  two 
months  an  enemy's  fleet  was  expected,  but  It 
did  not  come.    What  happened?" 

Mr.  Henschen  goes  on  to  state  that  PresI- 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    45 

dent  Wilson,  in  compensation  for  securing 
from  Congress  the  repeal  of  the  Panama 
Canal  Toll  Act,  got  the  British  Government 
to  use  its  influence  with  Japan  and  call  her 
off !  The  agent  in  the  case  he  states  was 
Sir  William  Terrill ! 

But  what  really  happened  to  cause  that 
mobilization  in  Corregidor,  stated  so  em- 
phatically by  Capt.  Hobson  and  so  graphic- 
ally described  by  Mr.  Henschen?  I  have  re- 
peatedly sought  an  adequate  answer. 

The  captain  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Steamship 
Company's  vessel  that  took  Dr.  Shailer 
Mathews  and  myself  to  Japan  in  Janu- 
ary, 19 1 5,  told  us  with  utmost  explicit- 
ness  and  wrath  what  he  knew:  '^The  Japan- 
ese actually  landed  10,000  troops  not  far 
from  Manila  and  were  on  the  point  of 
attacking  the  city,  when  for  some  unexplained 
reason  they  withdrew!" 

Dr.  Mathews  and  I  both  protested  that 
such  a  story  was  incredible.  Had  that 
actually  taken  place,  an  American-Japanese 
war  would  have  been  on.  Moreover,  had 
that  taken  place,  all  the  world  would  have 
heard  about  it.  It  could  not  happen,  we  in- 
sisted, without  some  word  about  it  getting 
into  the  papers. 


46     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

He  then  gave  us  in  great  detail  a  state- 
ment to  the  effect  that  Governor  Forbes  and 
General  Bell  after  vainly  trying  to  persuade 
the  editors  of  the  two  local  papers,  who  had 
secured  the  news,  to  suppress  it,  invoked  the 
aid  of  a  particularly  influential  citizen  of 
Manila.  This  citizen  was  a  special  friend 
to  the  captain  and  later  told  him  all  the 
details.  By  his  aid  the  Governor  actually 
succeeded  in  stopping  the  publication  of  the 
news  and  thus  in  keeping  the  world  from 
knowing  what  Japan  had  done!  We  pro- 
tested our  incredulity  in  vain.  The  captain 
stuck  to  his  guns  and  told  us  several  more 
equally  incredible  statements  about  Japan's 
outrageous  behavior. 

For  several  months  thereafter  I  inquired 
of  men  hailing  from  Manila,  but  have  found 
no  corroboration  for  the  captain's  story. 

But  what  was  it  that  really  happened  to 
cause  the  hysteria  in  Washington  and  Ma- 
nila? What  occasioned  the  sending  of  that 
cipher  message?  and  what  caused  the  mo- 
bilization in  Corregidor?  I  have  heard  of 
no  adequate  statement  either  from  Washing* 
ton  or  from  the  Government  at  Manila. 

In  May,  19 17,  however,  on  a  train  from 
St.  Louis  to  New  York  I  fell  into  conver- 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    47 

sation  with  an  artillery  ofBcer  who  had  re- 
cently returned  from  the  Philippines.  He 
gave  me  what  sounds  like  a  plausible  solu- 
tion. 

The  cipher  cable  referred  to,  he  said,  told 
of  a  Japanese  naval  fleet  headed  toward  the 
Philippines!  It  turned  out  that  the  ships 
were  merchantmen! 

Another  explanation  given  me  a  little  later 
by  a  civilian  who  had  been  long  in  Manila 
was  that  a  cipher  message  from  Washington 
had  not  been  correctly  decoded  and  that  that 
was  why  General  Bell  mobilized  the  forces 
so  precipitately. 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  solved  this  ques- 
tion. But  from  the  evidence  thus  far  re- 
ceived I  am  not  ready  to  believe  that  the 
Japanese  landed  troops  on  the  islands,  nor 
that  a  fleet  of  Japanese  battleships  was 
headed  for  the  Philippines  with  plans  of 
attack,  nor  that  Japan  had  at  that  time  any 
belligerent  plans  that  would  justify  the  scare 
and  the  mobilization  of  American  forces  in 
Manila. 


48    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


AN  ANTI- JAPANESE  HYMN  OF 
HATE 

As  a  part  of  its  anti-Japanese  campaign, 
the  Hearst  papers  published  in  the  summer 
of  191 6,  the  music  and  words  of  a  song  by 
Edith  Maida  Lessing,  entitled  **LookoutI 
California  Beware!"  The  character  of  the 
words  justifies  the  comparison  of  the  song 
to  the  famous  or  infamous  German  *^Hymn 
of  Hate"  against  England  by  Ernst  Lis- 
sauer. 

To  set  off  the  '*hymn"  in  striking  form 
a  full  page  five  colored  cartoon  was  ap- 
pended, yellow,  black,  green,  purple  and 
white  depicting  Japan  with  green  eyes  and 
most  revolting  face  stretching  her  long  hands 
with  pointed  finger-nails,  across  the  Pacific 
to  seize  Lower  California,  her  battle-fleet 
being  seen  on  the  green  of  the  ocean. 

The  cartoon  as  well  as  the  song  is  copy- 
righted. Neither  may,  therefore,  be  repro- 
duced. The  chorus  of  the  **Hymn  of  Hate," 
however,  and  a  few  selected  lines  from  the 
successive  stanzas  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the 
spirit  and  of  the  choice  language  used. 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    49 

Chorus, 

"They  lurk  upon  thy  shores,  California ! 
They  watch  behind  thy  doors,  California ! 
They're  a  hundred  thousand  strong, 
And  they  won't  be  hiding  long; 
There's  nothing  that  the  dastards  would  not  dare ! 
They  are  soldiers  to  a  man. 
With  the  schemes  of  old  JAPAN ! 
Lookout;  California!  Beware! 

"But  something's  going  to  happen 
That  will  shake  things  up,  perhaps. 
If  we  don't  start  to  clean  out  the  JAPS ! 

"There's  a  murmur  that  affirms 
We're  brothers  to  the  worms, 
That  serve  us  in  a  meek  and  lowly  manner ; 
But  while  we  watch  and  wait. 
They're  inside  the  Golden  Gate! 

"They've  battleships,  they  say, 
On  Magdalena  Bay! 
Uncle  Sam,  won't  you  listen  when  we  warn  you? 

"And  they're  waiting  just  to  steal  our  California ! 
So  just  keep  your  eye  on  TOGO 
With  his  pocket  full  of  maps, 
For  we've  found  out  we  can't  trust  the  JAPS ! 


50    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


INSULTING  CARTOONS 

The  Hearst  papers  have  published  a  num- 
ber of  insulting  cartoons  which  could  not  fail 
to  instill  poison  into  the  minds  of  all  un- 
guarded readers — for  a  cartoon  discloses  at 
a  glance  more  contempt  and  animosity  than 
can  be  expressed  in  many  words. 

The  New  York  Evening  Journal^  for  in- 
stance, on  April  26,  19 16,  published  a  large 
realistic  cartoon  showing  the  Japanese  battle- 
fleet  of  fourteen  distinguishable  vessels  in 
full  steam  across  the  Pacific  with  the  head 
and  shoulders  of  a  giant  Japanese  soldier 
back  of  the  fleet  viciously  grinning.  Beneath 
the  cartoon  in  large  type  are  the  words : 

*'With  Japan  it  is  not  *by  and  by,'  or  'some 
day,'  or  if  we  are  attacked  we  shall  see 
about  it.' 

**Japan  is  ready  NOW.  Japan  has  two 
millions  of  men  trained  to  fight  now,  and 
weapons  with  which  they  can  arm  at  an 
hour's  notice. 

**When  the  eye  of  intelligence  looks  from 
America  westward  across  the  Pacific,  this 
picture  is  seen — a  great  fleet,  and  beyond  it 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    51 

the    face    of    Japan    and    a    great    army, 
READT. 

^What  WE  have  THEY  want.'* 

Other  cartoons  of  similar  nature  and  spirit 
have  appeared  at  various  times  in  the  past 
three  years. 

It  should  perhaps  be  added  that  since 
April,  19 1 7,  the  Hearst  papers  have  ap- 
parently stopped  their  anti-Japanese  cam- 
paign. 

SOME  SAMPLES  OF  ANTI- 
JAPANESE  EDITORIALS 

The  anti-Japanese  jingo  press  of  America 
has  not  only  sedulously  circulated  sensa- 
tional stories  about  Japan  but  has  from  time 
to  time  indulged  in  editorial  attacks  upon 
Japan. 

The  New  York  American,  for  instance,  on 
April  10,  1916,  devotes  an  entire  page  in 
large  type  to  a  discussion  of  the  Yellow 
Peril. 

*THE  YELLOW  PERIL  CANNOT 
BE  AVOIDED  by  SIMPLY  SHUTTING 
OUR  EYES  TO  IT." 

*  We  Americans  arc  a  gullible  people  .  .  . 


52    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

"All  Asiatics  are  unmoral  and  many 
Asiatics  are  shrewd. 

**The  Japanese  are  both  absolutely  un- 
moral and  extraordinarily  shrewd. 

"The  only  question  which  ever  occurs  to 
the  Japanese  mind,  when  considering  any 
action  is  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not 
that  action  is  expedient. 

"The  Japanese  mind  is  wholly  unable  to 
understand,  for  instance,  the  indignation  felt 
by  Americans  against  the  wrongs  and  indig- 
nities put  upon  Belgium  by  Germans  and 
upon  Greece  by  the  Allies. 

"...  the  Yellow  Peril  is  THE  ONE 
VAST  MENACE  WHICH  THE  FU- 
TURE HOLDS  FOR  US. 

"JAPAN  STEADILY  PURSUES  HER 
PREPARATIONS  FOR  WAR  UPON 
US. 

"OUR  WEAKNESS  AND  OUR 
RICHES  TEMPT  JAPAN'S  CUPIDITY 
AND  SELF-CONCEIT— THE  TWO 
POWERFUL  MAIN  SPRINGS  OF  ALL 
JAPANESE  ACTION." 

One  can  hardly  avoid  the  wonder 
as  to  what  may  be  the  motives  of  the  writer 
of  the  above  editorial. 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    53 


GARBLED  QUOTATIONS  FROM 
THE  JAPANESE  PRESS 

In  the  autumn  and  winter  of  19 15-16, 
many  syndicate  articles  on  the  Japanese 
menace  were  published.  Among  the  writers 
whose  productions  had  wide  circulation  was 
Mr.  George  Bronson  Rea,  editor  of  the 
Far  Eastern  Review  (Shanghai,  China). 
These  articles  were  collected  and  issued  as 
a  pamphlet  entitled  ''Japan^s  Place  in  the 
Sun — The  Menace  to  America.  Compiled 
from  authoritative  Japanese  sources."  The 
front  page  was  made  glaringly  startling  by 
an  enormous  red  sun  with  vivid  red  rays 
streaming  across  the  page. 

When  I  went  to  Philadelphia  in  January, 
19 1 6,  I  was  repeatedly  questioned  by  men  of 
standing  in  regard  to  the  reliability  of  the 
articles.  I  was  told  that  unless  some  effec- 
tive reply  was  made  to  Mr.  Rea,  American 
opinion  in  regard  to  Japan's  international 
policies  would  be  seriously  affected. 

On  looking  the  articles  over,  I  found  them 
scholarly  in  form,  replete  with  damaging 
quotations  from  the  Japanese  and  presented 


54     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

with  much  show  of  fairness  and  logic.  For 
one  who  could  judge  of  American  Japanese 
relations  only  from  Mr.  Rea's  articles, 
Japan  was  hopelessly  convicted — even  out  of 
her  own  mouth. 

After  careful  reading  of  Mr.  Rea's  argu- 
ments and  alleged  quotations,  I  prepared  a 
brief  reply,  even  though  I  did  not  have  at 
hand  my  material  for  testing  the  accuracy 
of  his  quotations. 

Mr.  Rea's  entire  argument  is  a  striking 
example  of  special  pleading.  He  not  only 
selected  material  to  suit  his  purposes,  Ignor- 
ing important  quotations  that  would  offset 
the  position  he  tried  to  establish,  but  to  make 
his  case  Impregnable  he  even  misquoted  his 
sources,  as  has  now  been  proved. 

I  shall  here  deal  with  only  one  Illustration. 

One  of  his  articles  was  devoted  to  Japan- 
ese self-conceit.  He  treats  it  under  the  sug- 
gestive title  ^'Nippon  iiber  Alles."  He  brings 
together  a  number  of  striking  quotations 
from  Japanese  writers  showing  that  the 
Japanese  are  sensitive  to  insult,  ambitious  as 
a  nation,  resentful  of  wrongs  by  western 
nations  and  earnestly  concerned  with  the 
question  of  her  *Vorld  mission."  Whether 
or  not  all  the  quotations  given  are  correct  I 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    55 

cannot  say.  One  of  them  Is  so  garbled  as  to 
raise  the  doubt  about  all  the  rest. 

From  the  Kokumin  he  quotes,  in  support 
of  his  argument  the  following  sentence: 

*'After  all,  the  average  Japanese  trans- 
cends every  other  people  In  respect  of  ability 
and  talent.''    (P.  14.) 

The  quotation  as  given  supports  Mr. 
Rea's  thesis  splendidly.  Unfortunately  for 
him,  however,  when  writing  another  chapter 
on  the  ''Weight  of  Numbers,''  forgetting  that 
he  had  already  garbled  the  quotation,  he 
gave  It  correctly  In  support  of  his  new  thesis. 

He  quotes  the  Kokumin  as  opposing  Jap- 
anese emigration.  ''It  Is  deprecatory  (un- 
desirable) for  Japanese  subjects  to  emigrate 
to  foreign  countries  and  change  their  na- 
tionality by  naturalization.  Japan  Is  one  of 
the  rising  nations  of  the  world  and  It  Is  the 
height  of  absurdity  that  Japan  should  send 
out  many  able  youths  as  emigrants  to  foreign 
lands.  After  all,"  the  Kokumin  concludes, 
"the  average  Japanese  transcends  every 
other  people  of  decadent  nations'^  In  respect 
of  ability  and  talent." — Page  47. 

If  Mr.  Rea  had  Included  the  words  "of  de- 
cadent  nations"  in  his  previous  use  of  this 

*  Italics  mine. 


56    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

quotation  it  would  have  completely  refuted 
his  argument,  so  he  left  them  out.  What  is 
to  be  thought  of  a  man  who  poses  as  a  leader 
of  American  thought  in  regard  to  Oriental 
questions,  who  deliberately  manipulates  his 
^^quotations''  to  suit  his  thesis? 


CONGRESSMAN  BRITTEN'S 
STATEMENTS 

Upon  his  return  from  a  trip  to  the  Orient 
in  the  autumn  of  191 5,  Congressman  Fred 
A.  Britten  of  Illinois  made  a  number  of 
speeches  on  the  Oriental  problem.  His  ad- 
dress at  the  Mystic  Athletic  Club  was  re- 
ported by  wire  in  the  Los  Angeles  Times  the 
next  day  with  a  scare  head, 

"Japs  Hate  Us,  says  Britten." 

A  subhead  states  that  "the  only  thing  that 
kept  them  from  Going  After  Us  Some  Years 
Ago,  He  Proclaims,  was  Their  Failure  to 
Float  a  Great  Loan  in  Europe." 

In  the  text  of  the  report  occur  these  words: 
"If  Japan  could  have  procured  her  strenu- 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    57 

ously  sought  war  loan  of  a  billion  and  a  half 
from  Germany,  England  and  France,  I  be- 
lieve most  of  you  gentlemen  would  right  now 
be  occupying  trenches  on  the  Pacific  Coast." 
I  at  once  wrote  a  letter  to  Congressman 
Britten  asking  if  the  report  of  his  address 
was  correct  and,  if  so,  requesting  the  au- 
thority for  so  important  a  revelation  of 
Japan's  sinister  plans.  I  sent  the  letter  by 
registered  special  delivery.  I  have  been 
waiting  now  two  years  for  the  reply.  My 
surmise  is  that  this  outrageous  slander  on 
Japan  was  picked  up  in  Shanghai  or  some 
similar  hotbed  of  international  intrigue.  In 
view  of  the  Zimmermann  disclosure  of  last 
January  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  think  of 
it  as  originally  started  on  its  course  by  some 
skillful  German  hint-  of  important  state 
secrets. 


JAPAN'S  PLAN  TO  ATTACK  US 
IN  1914 

In  July,  19 1 7,  a  friend  sent  me  a  letter 
which  had  been  received  from  a  third  party. 
It  began  as  follows: 

**I  am*  not  replying  publicly  to  your  letter 


58    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

in  this  morning's  Journal  because  I  do  not 
want  to  attack  Japan  during  the  present 
war.  But  I  would  Hke  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  following  points : 

"i.  Japan  was  preparing  to  attack  us  in 
May,  1 9 14,  and  would  have  done  so  but  for 
the  European  war.  The  Philippine  Govern- 
ment at  that  time  moved  all  their  records 
and  treasure  to  Corregldor." 

I  ventured  to  write  directly  to  the  gentle- 
man. Among  other  things  I  called  his  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  the  European  war 
did  not  break  out  until  August ,  I9i4)  and 
that,  therefore,  the  war  could  not  have  been 
the  reason  why  Japan  did  not  attack  us  in 
May!  I  remarked  that  so  many  anti-Japan- 
ese stories  having,  upon  investigation,  proved 
foundationless  I  would  esteem  it  a  favor  if 
he  would  give  me  the  authority  for  his  state- 
ment, so  that  I  might  make  Investigations. 
To  this  he  replied,  in  part,  as  follows: 

*T  am  somewhat  in  doubt  just  what  to 
say  to  you.  Believing,  as  I  do,  that  you  are, 
perhaps  unconsciously,  playing  the  game  of 
the  Japanese,  it  is  a  question  how  far  I  ought 
to  lay  my  own  cards  upon  the  table.  I  will 
say,  however,  that  the  statement  that  Japan 
intended  to  make  war  upon  us  in  May,  19 14, 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    59 

was  first  told  me  in  191 5  by  a  diplomat  who 
had  lived  in  Japan  for  some  time.  His  story 
was  recently  confirmed  in  all  its  details  by  a 
man  high  in  our  governmental  service  In  the 
East.  In  April,  19 14,  the  Japanese  servants 
of  the  former,  who  were  much  attached  to 
him,  did  everything  they  could,  short  of 
direct  statements,  to  get  him  away  from  Cali- 
fornia before  the  first  of  May;  and  left  at 
that  time  to  join  their  regiments.  .   .   . 

**Your  statement  that  nobody  in  April, 
1 9 14,  expected  a  general  European  war  Is 
absurd.  I  knew  in  February  that  It  was 
coming  .    .    .'' 

I  then  wrote  inquiring  who  the  **diplomat" 
was  * Vho  had  lived  in  Japan  for  some  time." 
Illness  of  the  writer  has  thus  far  prevented 
a  reply.  From  the  statement  of  the  first 
letter,  however,  that  the  government  "had 
removed  all  their  records  and  treasure  to 
Corregldor,''  I  surmise  that  the  writer,  or 
the  reporter  confused  his  dates  and  substi- 
tuted 19 14  for  1 9 13.  In  that  case,  I  have 
dealt  with  the  matter  sufficiently.  But  If  this 
surmise  Is  correct,  then  the  reason  why 
Japan  did  not  attack  us  at  that  time  (May, 
1 9 13),  could  not  have  been  the  Impending 
European  war  I      If   she  had  such  definite 


60    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

plans,  why  did  she  not  carry  them  out? 
What  was  It  that  changed  her  plans?  The 
true  statement  of  the  case  is,  I  believe,  that 
she  had  no  such  plans. 


JAPANESE  BUSINESS  IMMO- 
RALITY 

Many  stories  are  told  of  Japanese  busi- 
ness immorality — that  Japanese,  for  instance, 
are  so  untrustworthy  that  they  cannot  trust 
even  one  another  and,  therefore,  have  to  em- 
ploy Chinese  cashiers  in  all  their  banks.  This 
story  appears  to  be  known  in  all  parts  of 
the  United  States,  and  is  always  accepted  as 
true.  It  is,  nevertheless,  absolutely  false. 
There  are  indeed  Chinese  clerks  in  the  prin- 
cipal banks  of  Yokohama,  Kobe  and  Naga- 
saki, the  old  treaty  ports.  Considerable 
Chinese  population  dwell  in  those  cities.  The 
chief  foreign  bank,  moreover,  in  each  of 
those  cities  is  the  Hong  Kong  and  Shanghai 
Banking  Corporation,  having  headquarters 
in  China ;  its  branches  are,  of  course,  largely 
manned  by  Chinese  clerks.  Most  Americans 
going  to  Japan  with  letters  of  credit  get  their 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    61 

cash  from  this  chain  of  banks,  which  may 
in  part  account  for  the  story  cited  above. 

In  detecting  the  spurious  money  that  comes 
in  at  those  treaty  ports,  Chinese  have  proved 
themselves  remarkable  experts,  which  is 
another  reason  for  their  employment  in 
banks.  I  have  myself  dealt  with  Japanese 
banks  in  several  other  cities  and  have  never 
seen  Chinese  clerks.  I  am  assured  by  Jap- 
anese bankers  that,  except  in  the  cities  men- 
tioned, no  Japanese  banks  employ  Chinese 
as  cashiers  or  in  any  other  capacity. 

As  for  Japanese  business  morality  in  gen- 
eral, let  me  report  a  conversation  with  the 
president  of  a  large  American  firm  which 
did  $20,000,000  worth  of  business  with 
Japan  in  191 6.  He  told  me  that  his  com- 
pany had  not  lost  a  single  dollar  because  of 
Japanese  business  unreliability.  He  also 
stated  that  until  1900  his  company  had  had 
more  diificulty  in  financial  dealings  with 
Japanese  than  with  Chinese,  but  that  since 
1900  they  had  had  better  financial  relations 
with  Japanese  than  with  Chinese. 

Facts  like  these  ought  to  be  widely  re- 
ported to  our  people  in  order  to  correct  the 
falsehoods  that  have  been  so  widely  and  so 
successfully  circulated  in  this  country. 


62    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  report  here  a 
particularly  illuminating  story  about  Japan- 
ese banking  in  California,  Mr.  W.  V. 
Woehlke,  in  a  brilliant  but  misleading  article 
published  in  the  New  York  Outlook,  May  lO, 
19 13,  stated  that  a  '^low  standard  of  business 
ethics"  was  a  '^distinguishing  mark  of  many 
Japanese."  In  support  of  this  proposition, 
which  probably  few  would  question  (adding 
mentally  that  it  is  also  a  distinguishing  char- 
acteristic of  many  Americans) ,  Mr.  Woehlke 
makes  the  following  statement: 

**In  the  spring  of  1909,  for  instance, 
twenty  Japanese  banks  (in  California)  ac- 
cepted deposits  from  white  and  yellow  men. 
At  the  end  of  the  year  all  but  three  were 
closed,  and  examinations  of  the  wrecked  in- 
stitutions revealed  that  they  had  been  plun- 
dered by  every  trick  and  device  known  to  the 
shrewdest  and  crookedest  promoter.  Simul- 
taneously with  the  downfall  of  the  banks 
scores  of  Japanese  merchants,  individuals 
and  firms,  hastened  to  the  referee  in  bank- 
ruptcy, thus  forestalling  any  attempt  to 
force  repayment  of  loans  made  to  them  by 
friendly  directors  of  the  defunct  banks." 

This  statement  by  Mr.  Woehlke  was  so 
definite  that  I  took  pains  in  September,  19 13, 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    63 

to  investigate  the  facts.  I  learned  from  the 
State  Banking  Department  of  California  that 
there  never  had  been  more  than  seven  Jap- 
anese banks  in  California,  of  which  three 
are  still  doing  business,  the  Yokohama  Specie 
Bank,  having  an  annual  business  of  $2,073,- 
086  (June  14,  1912),  the  Nippon  Bank 
($94,244),  and  the  Industrial  Bank  of 
Fresno  ($49,594).  'The  Kawakami 
Brothers  Bank  went  out  of  business  some 
months  ago  paying  its  depositors  in  full.  The 
remaining  three  banks  were  closed  by  the 
Superintendent  of  Banks  in  the  year  1909 
and  are  still  in  his  hands  for  purpose  of 
liquidation." 

What  the  final  outcome  was  of  the  liqui- 
dation process  I  have  not  heard.  I  was 
satisfied,  however,  by  the  statement  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Banking  Department  of  the 
State  of  California,  that  many  of  those  who 
were  accusing  Japanese  of  a  *'low  standard 
of  business  ethics"  were  themselves  open  to 
the  same  accusation. 


64    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


GERMAN  INTRIGUE 

On  March  i,  19 17,  the  country  was 
startled  by  the  disclosure  from  Washington 
of  the  secret  message  from  the  German 
Foreign  Office  to  the  German  Minister  Von 
Echhart  in  Mexico,  directing  him,  in  case 
war  with  America  should  actually  occur,  to 
propose  to  Mexico  that  Mexico  should  join 
with  Germany  in  attacking  the  United 
States  making  war  and  peace  together.  The 
gain  to  Mexico  would  be  to  **reconquer  the 
lost  territory  in  New  Mexico,  Texas  and 
Arizona." 

The  Minister  was  also  to  say  to  President 
Carranza,  that  *'the  President  of  Mexico,  on 
his  own  initiative  should  communicate  with 
Japan,  suggesting  adherence  at  once  to  this 
plan.  At  the  same  time  offer  to  mediate 
between  Germany  and  Japan." 

Many  in  America,  having  long  entertained 
doubts  and  suspicions  of  Japan's  attitude 
toward  the  United  States,  waited  with  some 
anxiety  to  know  what  Japan  would  do.  The 
indignant  reply  of  Japan's  press  to  the  im- 
plications of  the  Zimmermann  proposal,  the 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    65 

specific  statement  of  the  Foreign  Minister 
that  no  proposition  had  come  from  Germany 
and  the  assurance  by  the  Prime  Minister, 
Count  Terauchi,  that  "if  it  ever  came  to  hand 
I  can  conceive  of  no  other  form  of  reply 
than  that  of  indignant  and  categorical  re- 
fusal/' did  much  to  allay  American  doubts 
and  to  open  their  eyes  to  the  sinister  methods 
of  the  German  Government. 

For  the  first  time  did  Americans  realize 
that  German  intrigue  for  setting  nation 
against  nation  involved  the  whole  world. 
For  the  first  time  were  Americans  ready  to 
believe  that  the  anti-Japanese  cammpaign 
which  had  been  so  long  and  successfully 
carried  on  in  the  United  States,  may  have 
had  a  real  source  in  Germany's  desire  to 
estrange  these  two  countries. 


A  FALSIFIED  CABLEGRAM 

The  California-Japanese  situation  became 
acute  in  May,  1913,  when  the  California 
State  Legislature,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of 
President  Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan, 
passed    the     anti-alien    land    law.      There 


66    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

was  considerable  indignation  in  Japan  and 
meetings  of  protest  were  held  in  many  cities. 
Then  it  was  that  some  Japanese  hot-heads 
declared  the  California  insult  could  be  ade- 
quately met  only  by  war.  Then  it  was  that 
Count  Okuma  declared  that  the  only  possible 
solution  of  the  California-Japanese  question 
was  to  be  attained,  not  by  war  or  threats  of 
war,  but  by  an  appeal  to  the  Christian  people 
of  Anlerica  to  apply  to  the  problem  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  religion — the  brother- 
hood of  man. 

But  the  actual  situation  was  ripe  for  In- 
sidious aggravation  of  the  difficulty.  A  cable- 
gram was  sent  from  Japan  to  America,  on 
the  strength  of  which  Mr.  Chester  Rowell, 
one  of  California's  most  able  writers  and  re- 
sponsible political  leaders.  In  his  article  pub- 
lished in  the  World's  Work  for  June,  19 13, 
used  these  words:  *  While  I  am  writing 
these  lines  a  mob  of  20,000  Is  surging 
through  the  streets  of  Tokyo,  clamoring  for 
war  with  America." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  there  was 
no  such  mob.  I  was  in  Japan  at  the  time  and 
nothing  of  the  kind  appeared  in  the  press. 
I  have  since  made  careful  inquiries  and  have 
httn  assured  by  responsible  men  living  in 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    67 

Tokyo,  that  the  cablegram  was  absolutely 
false.  The  cablegram  was  devised  appar- 
ently to  stir  up  anti-Japanese  feeling  in 
America. 

That  was  the  time,  it  should  be  noticed, 
when  the  American  forces  in  the  Philippines 
took  fright  and  were  suddenly  mobilized  in 
Corregidor,  It  would  be  highly  interesting 
and  doubtless  instructive  to  know  what  tele- 
grams were  sent  to  Washington  and  to  Gen- 
eral Bell  and  from  whom. 


ANOTHER  CABLEGRAM 

On  August  8,  19 14,  four  days  after  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  had  declared  war  upon 
each  other,  a  cablegram  was  sent  from 
America  to  Japan  stating  that  the  entire 
American  battlefleet  had  passed  through  the 
Panama  Canal  on  its  way  to  the  Orient. 

Tokyo  was  in  an  uproar  of  excitement  and 
indignation;  for  it  was  implied  that  the 
United  States  was  going  to  take  advantage 
of  the  great  European  war  to  establish  its 
undisputed  power  in  the  Far  East. 

Americans  who  have  belittled  the  power 


68     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

of  the  American  fleet  do  not  remember  that 
at  that  time  it  was  at  least  twice  as  powerful 
as  the  Japanese  fleet. 

Fortunately,  Ambassador  Guthrie  was 
near  at  hand  and  at  once  published  a  flat 
denial  of  the  lying  cablegram.  This  quieted 
the  uproar  after  twenty-four  hours  and  as 
further  news  arrived  from  America  it  became 
clear  that  somebody  had  blundered  or  lied. 
But  serious  mischief  had  been  done  in  Japan 
to  the  friendliness  of  American  Japanese 
relations. 

But  who  sent  that  cablegram?  And  why? 
I  have  frequently  raised  the  question.  I 
tried  to  secure  information  from  one  of  the 
Tokyo  papers  which  published  the  news,  but 
was  told  that  the  source  of  news  was  not 
a  matter  for  disclosure.  In  many  of  my 
addresses  during  the  past  three  years,  I  have 
cited  this  as  an  instance  of  malicious  inter- 
national slander  that  should  be  rendered  im- 
possible. After  my  address  at  the  farewell 
dinner  given  at  the  Astor  Hotel,  September 
19,  1917,  to  the  new  Ambassador  to  Japan, 
Hon.  Rowland  S.  Morris,  one  of  the  guests 
said  to  me  that  he  knew  the  source  of  that 
cablegram — the  German-American  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  San  Francisco.     I  regret 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories     69 

that  no  method  has  appeared  by  which  to 
verify  his  statement.  The  entire  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  the  known  methods  of 
the  German  Government  and  the  activities 
of  the  German-American  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  New  York,  make  the  statement 
plausible,  to  say  the  least. 

In  this  connection  I  may  refer  briefly  to 
the  efforts  of  this  ^^Chamber  of  Commerce" 
to  embroil  the  situation  by  telegraphing 
August  17,  1 9 14,  to  Governor  Johnson  of 
California  warning  him  of  the  danger  from 
Japanese  on  the  Pacific  coast  and  urging  him 
to  take  drastic  action  in  regard  to  them. 

I  may  also  refer  to  the  strain  in  our  dip- 
lomatic relations  with  Germany  when  Baron 
Von  Schoen,  at  that  time  just  transferred 
from  Tokyo  to  Washington,  stated  (Septem- 
ber 22,  1 9 14)  that  the  **Japanese  regard 
war  with  America  inevitable  and  that  they 
harbor  an  intense  hatred  of  the  American 
people." 


70    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 


ANTI-AMERICAN  WAR-SCARE 
STORIES  IN  JAPAN 

Americans  should  realize  that  an  anti- 
American  campaign  has  also  been  carried  on 
in  Japan.  Japan's  natural  appreciation  of 
and  friendship  for  America  has  been  contin- 
uously attacked  and  at  one  time  seemed  to 
be  seriously  shaken. 

It  is  no  part  of  the  plan  of  this  discussion 
to  present  this  side  of  the  case  with  any  full- 
ness. Two  or  three  instances,  however,  will 
probably  be  worth  while. 

I  have  already  described  the  excitement 
and  indignation  in  Tokyo  by  the  fabricated 
cablegram  sent  from  America  (probably 
San  Francisco)  to  Japan,  August  8,  1914, 
saying  that  the  entire  American  battlefleet 
had  passed  through  the  Panama  Canal. 
That  was  before  Japan  had  declared  war  on 
Germany.  It  might  well  have  been  intended 
to  inflame  Japanese  opinion  against  America 
and  make  them  feel  that  their  real  foe  was 
America.  Had  this  object  been  attained, 
Japan,  in  all  probability,  would  not  have  at- 
tacked the  Germans  at  Kiao-Chau. 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    71 

Early  in  September,  a  telegram  was  pub- 
lished in  Tokyo  from  Peking  telling  of  a 
banquet  given  there  by  eminent  Chinese  to 
an  American  admiral  and  his  officers.  Ac- 
cording to  the  telegram  the  admiral  made  a 
speech  in  which  he  warned  China  to  beware 
of  Japan  and  her  policies;  that  China's  im- 
placable foe  was  Japan  and  that  every  pre- 
caution must  be  taken  to  resist  her  encroach- 
ments. 

The  telegram  caused  another  wave  of  in- 
dignation throughout  Japan.  Whatever  the 
facts  might  be  of  Japan's  relations  to  China 
it  was  manifestly  a  serious  breach  of  diplo- 
matic etiquette  for  an  American  Admiral  to 
give  the  Chinese  Government  such  advice. 
But,  as  in  the  previous  case,  so  in  this;  the 
telegram  was  a  complete  fabrication.  This 
fact,  however,  was  not  known  for  several 
days.  In  the  meantime  the  poison  ran  free 
course  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Japan.    But  who  sent  it? 

In  October,  19 14,  a  long  circumstantial 
account  was  published  in  the  Yorodzu  of 
Tokyo,  giving  an  alleged  interview  In  Yoko- 
hama by  *Taymaster  Malcock"  of  the 
United  States  Navy  on  his  way  from  Manila 
to  San  Francisco.     **It  appears  as  though 


72     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

war  between  Japan  and  my  country  were  in- 
evitable. .  .  .  It  is  more  than  probable  that 
within  a  few  weeks  the  Atlantic  fleet  of  our 
navy  will  pass  through  the  Panama  Canal 
and  put  in  appearance  in  the  Pacific.  .  .  . 
Already  immense  quantities  of  coal  and  am- 
munition have  been  shipped  to  Hawaii  and 
the  Philippines.  .  .  .  Lieutenant  Pauter  will 
take  charge  of  our  aircraft.  ...  I  have 
received  this  information  from  Admiral 
Elkins  on  board  the  lowa^  Such  were  some 
of  the  explicit  statements.  They  were  so  cir- 
cumstantial that  they  immediately  received 
credence  as  important  disclosures  of  Amer- 
ica's secret  plans  to  attack  Japan. 

Of  course  the  ^Taymaster''  had  sailed  and 
It  was  immpossible  for  friends  of  America 
to  see  him  and  find  out  what  he  really  had 
said.  After  several  days,  however,  it  was 
discovered  that  there  was  no  *^Admiral 
Elkins,"  nor  ^'Paymaster  Malcock,"  nor 
"Lieutenant  Pauter"  on  the  rolls  of  the 
American  Navy.  Investigation  finally  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  the  whole  story  had  been 
concocted  in  Yokohama.  There  had  been 
no  interview  at  all.  For  some  time  the  con- 
cocted interview  was  ascribed  to  Germans. 
At  last,  however,  It  was  clearly  proven  that 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    73 

a  renegade  American,  to  make  a  few  dollars 
had  taken  advantage  of  the  international 
situation  and  had  "put  over''  the  fake  inter- 
view. 

One  would  suppose  that  repeated  experi- 
ence of  "exploded  news"  would  have  made 
the  Japanese  chary  of  accepting  more  of  the 
same  variety.  Japanese,  however,  are 
much  like  Americans.  Both  Americans  and 
Japanese  have  short  memories  in  regard  to 
disproved  stories.  Just  consider  how  the 
Magdalena  and  Turtle  Bay  stories,  though 
completely  discredited,  still  circulate  and  are 
still  accepted  as  ^''true  in  spirit  if  not  in  actual 
fact,'*  Japan  would  be  only  too  glad  to  get 
a  big  naval  base  over  here  if  she  could  and 
will  do  so  as  soon  as  she  can — such  is  the 
"fixed  idea"  of  many  Americans.  So  too  in 
Japan. 

But  it  is  ever  to  be  remembered  that  many 
utterances  in  the  United  States  have  given 
much  ground  for  Japanese  apprehension  as 
to  America's  ambitions  in  the  Far  East.  To 
mention  only  one — on  October  i,  19 14,  Con- 
gressman Mann,  House  Leader  of  the  Re- 
publican Party,  opposing  the  Democratic 
proposal  to  make  the  Philippines  independent 
in  the  near  future,  stated  that  war  in  'the 


74    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

Orient  over  commercial  interests  would  be 
inevitable  sooner  or  later.  He  insisted  that 
we  must  hold  on  to  the  Philippines  as  a  naval 
base  from  which  to  wage  our  war  for  our 
commercial,  and  therefore,  for  our  naval 
supremacy  in  the  Pacific. 

This  address  from  an  official  head  of  the 
Republicans  of  America  was  cabled  to  Japan 
and  had  its  part  of  responsibility  in  confirm- 
ing Japanese  suspicions. 

An  anti-American  story  that  has  had  re- 
peated vogue  in  Japan  for  fifteen  years,  is 
that  America  was  seeking  a  naval  base  in 
China  in  order  to  block  Japan's  legitimate 
rights  there.  The  place  named  is  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Fukien,  opposite  Formosa,  a  part  of 
China  which  Japan,  since  her  annexation  of 
Formosa  in  1896,  has  regarded  as  her  special 
sphere  of  influence.  This  story  has  been  the 
basis  of  no  little  anti-American  indignation. 

I  was  for  a  long  time  at  a  loss  to  account 
for  the  story,  so  persistent  and  definite,  for 
I  never  had  heard  in  America  of  desires  or 
plans  for  an  American  naval  base  in  China. 
I  had  indeed  been  assured  by  **high  authori- 
ties'' at  Washington  that  there  was  no  truth 
whatsoever  in  the  stories. 

In  April,   19 15,  however,  I  was  told  by 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    75 

*'high  authority''  that  at  one  time  (1898  or 
1899)  ^  pl^^  was  under  consideration  by  the 
Chinese  Government  of  making  a  contract 
with  the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation  to  es- 
tablish a  large  foundry  and  build  drydocks 
in  the  province  of  Fukien  where  China  con- 
templated making  an  important  naval  base, 
but  that  the  project  had  fallen  through.  It 
is  easy  to  see  how  such  a  fact  could  easily 
be  twisted  by  experts  on  international  slan- 
der. The  Japanese  story  about  an  American 
naval  base  in  China  is  much  more  plausible 
and  also  of  much  greater  significance  to 
Japan  than  the  corresponding  American 
stories  of  a  Japanese  naval  base  at  Magda- 
lena  Bay.  Yet  the  latter  stories  have  done 
much  damage  to  the  attitude  of  American 
feelings  toward  Japan. 

Americans  have  developed  much  suspicion 
of  Japan  because  of  her  treatment  of  China 
in  connection  with  those  important  **twenty- 
one  demands''  presented  to  China  in  January, 
191 5.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who  exonerates 
Japan  in  that  transaction.  But  it  has  become 
clear  that  the  occasion  was  utilized  to  the 
full  by  German  agents  in  China  and  in 
America  to  aggravate  the  situation  to  the 
utmost  possible  degree,  estranging  China  and 


76    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

Japan  and  also  estranging  America  and 
Japan.  The  full  Inner  history  of  that  up- 
happy  episode  Is  still  to  be  written. 

Had  German  desires  been  achieved  of 
bringing  China  and  Japan  Into  actual  conflict 
and  especially  of  hurling  America  and  Japan 
against  each  other,  the  ammunition  of  both 
these  countries  that  was  going  In  such  large 
amounts  to  aid  Russia,  Great  Britain  and 
France  would  have  been  needed  at  home, 
which  would  have  been  of  great  service  to 
Germany.  Even  as  It  was,  the  hold-up  of 
Japanese  ammunition  In  the  winter  of  19 15 
was  one  of  the  causes  of  Russia's  frightful 
defeat  In  the  spring  and  summer  of  that  year. 

The  antl-Amerlcan  campaign  In  Japan  was 
so  far  successful  that  In  the  autumn  of  19 14 
when  Japanese  troops  were  leaving  Japan  for 
China,  it  was  popularly  believed  In  certain 
sections  of  Japan  that  they  were  going  to 
fight  America ! 

It  was  a  providential  thing  for  the  rela- 
tions of  America  and  Japan  at  that  juncture, 
when  Japanese  popular  feeling  was  decidedly 
tense  against  America,  that  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  sent  to  Japan  Its  special  embassy 
of  friendship  and  goodwill.     The  results  of 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories     77 

a  single  month  (February,  1915)  of  wide 
speaking  and  still  wider  publicity  given  to  the 
Embassy  by  the  daily  press  of  Japan,  became 
one  of  several  factors  that  served  to  allay 
those  feelings  and  to  convince  the  responsible 
citizenship  of  Japan  that  there  still  remained 
in  America  a  large  body  of  citizens  whose 
attitude  toward  Japan  was  fair  and  friendly. 


A  JAPANESE  MISREPRESENTATION 
OF  AMERICA'S  AMBITIONS 

It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  America's 
prosperity  and  spirit  and  also  her  deeds  can 
be  easily  misrepresented  by  those  who  desire 
to  stir  up  anti-American  feeling  in  the  Orient. 

The  Yorodzu,  one  of  Japan's  sensational 
and  jingo  papers,  commenting  on  America's 
entry  into  the  war,  insists  that  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  has  been  thrown  to  the  wind.  Its 
argument,  as  reported  in  the  Japan  Maga- 
zine for  October,  19 17,  runs  as  follows: 

*'The  United  States  can  no  longer  be  said 
to  confine  her  attention  to  her  own  side  of 
the  Atlantic,  or  even  the  Pacific;  for  she  has 
already  annexed  Hawaii,  taken  the  Philip- 


78     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

pines,  and  extended  her  Influence  far  beyond 
her  national  boundaries;  and  her  present  par- 
ticipation in  the  European  war  carries  an 
American  army  into  Europe.  How  can  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  be  now  said  to  exist? 
America  is  feeling  the  result  of  the  enormous 
wealth  amassed  during  the  first  two  years 
of  the  war,  and  she  is  now  stretching  out  her 
giant  hands  toward  other  lands,  notably  to- 
ward China,  yes  and  toward  Russia  too.  For 
years  America  has  been  courting  the  friend- 
ship of  China  and  she  is  now  prepared  to 
concentrate  her  enormous  energy  on  that 
country.  As  the  Chinese  are  more  influenced 
by  money  than  in  any  other  way  the  wealth 
of  the  United  States  has  a  great  attraction 
for  the  Republic,  which  now  has  a  chance  to 
allow  itself  to  be  enveloped  in  money  power. 
In  the  same  way,  America  is  endeavoring  to 
get  an  inside  place  in  Russia's  esteem.  A 
delegation  has  visited  Russia,  the  country's 
railways  are  to  be  reorganized,  Russian  en- 
terprise in  her  Far  Eastern  possessions  Is  to 
be  assisted,  and  concessions  for  mines  In 
Saghalien  may  be  granted.  With  her  left 
foot  in  China  and  her  right  foot  striding 
across  the  dominions  of  the  Slav,  the  Amer- 
ican giant  has  its  eye  on  Europe  too,  where 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    79 

England  and  France  are  only  too  glad  to 
welcome  assistance  and  interest.  Japan  has 
only  to  do  with  America's  activity  in  the 
Orient,  which  must  not  be  expected  to  de- 
crease; and  Japan  must  watch  American  in- 
fluence in  the  Far  East  with  the  same  assid- 
uity that  the  upholders  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  watched  European  influence  in 
America." 


CONCLUSION 

Enough  has  now  been  given  I  think  to 
convince  any  candid  person  that  serious  inter- 
national tension  between  America  and  Japan 
has  been  fomented  by  those  who  have  circu- 
lated, and  especially  by  those  who  have  in- 
vented, false  international  **news."  As  I 
stated  at  the  beginning,  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  anti-Japanese  campaign  in  this  country 
has  been  solely  due  to  German  interests. 
Many  who  have  participated  in  it  have  not 
had  the  slightest  thought  that  they  were 
serving  those  interests.  Most  of  those  who 
have  circulated  anti-Japanese  stories  have 
been,  I  doubt  not,  earnest  patriotic  Ameri- 
cans in  whose  minds  nevertheless,  suspicions 


80    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

of  Japan  had  been  developed  by  the  skillful 
use  of  alleged  ^^news,"  which,  nevertheless, 
upon  investigation  has  proved  utterly  false. 
Mr.  George  Kennan,  in  the  New  York 
Outlook  for  September  20,  19 16,  made  a 
brief  summary  of  the  anti-Japanese  stories 
which  he  had  found  to  be  false.  It  is  so  strik- 
ing that  I  venture  to  give  it : 

^7n  a  long  series  of  alarms,  beginning  with  the  San 
Francisco  public  school  troubles,  the  Japanese  have 
been  accused  of  preparing  for  war  with  us  by  buy- 
ing 750,000  rifles  from  the  Crucible  Steel  Company 
(1908);  of  plotting  against  us  in  Hawaii  and  the 
Philippines  (1909);  of  excluding  Americans  from 
the  Manchurian  mining  fields  (1909);  of  discrim- 
inating against  our  commerce  by  means  of  trans- 
portation rebates  on  the  Manchurian  railways 
(1909)  ;  of  seeking  to  monopolize  the  truckfarming 
lands  in  California  (1909)  ;  of  sinking  the  dry-dock 
Dewey  in  Manila  Bay  (1910);  of  planting  mines 
in  that  same  bay  (1910)  ;  of  taking  soundings  and 
making  charts  of  California  harbors  (1910);  of 
secretly  conspiring  with  Mexico  against  us  (1911); 
of  attempting  to  secure  Magdalena  Bay,  in  Lower 
California,  for  a  naval  base  (1911);  of  secretly 
taking  photographs  and  making  maps  on  the  Coast 
of  Alaska  (1911)  ;  of  trying  to  get  supreme  control 
in  Manchuria  under  pretense  of  fighting  the  bubonic 
plague  (1911);  of  conspiring  with  Mexican  insur- 
gents against  us  (1912) ;  of  persecuting  the  Ameri- 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    81 

can  missionaries  in  Korea  and  trying  to  abolish 
Christianity  there  (1912)  ;  of  conspiring  with  Ger- 
many to  overthrow  the  Monroe  doctrine  (1912); 
of  attacking  the  American  Consul  in  Newchang 
(1912)  ;  of  forming  an  alliance  with  our  west  coast 
Indians  against  us  (1912)  ;  of  threatening  to  attack 
Java,  and  thus  compelling  the  Dutch  to  seek  our 
support  (1912)  ;  of  trying  to  buy  Lower  California 
from  Huerta  ( 1914)  ;  of  attempting  to  get  spies 
into  the  fortifications  of  the  Panama  Canal  (1915)  ; 
of  seeking  to  secure  a  foothold  in  Lower  California 
by  running  a  vessel  ashore  there  and  sending  war- 
ships to  assist  in  salvage  operations  (1915);  of 
conspiring  with  Germany  to  get  control  of  the  San 
Bias  Indian  lands  in  Panama  (1916)  ;  of  conspiring 
with  Russia  against  us  at  least  two  or  three  times 
in  the  last  ten  years/' 


In  a  personal  note  of  October  14,  1917, 
Mr.  Kennan  says :  "This  list  of  false  stories 
was  taken  from  my  own  records,  covering  a 
long  series  of  years,  but  it  is  far  from  com- 
plete as  printed.  I  included  only  the  more  im- 
portant lies,  but  there  were  dozens  of  others. 
I  had  no  doubt  years  ago  that  there  was  some 
powerful  agency  behind  these  misrepresen- 
tations, but  I  did  not  begin  to  suspect  Ger- 
many until  this  year." 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Americans  will  learn 
to  question  international  slander  and  will,  in 


82     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

time,  provide  some  effective  method  for  ex- 
posing the  falsehood  of  tales  intended  to 
estrange  peoples  and  nations. 

It  ought  to  be  possible  to  compel  pro- 
moters of  suspected  stories  to  disclose  the 
sources  of  their  information,  in  order  that 
the  impartial  public  may  be  able  to  estimate 
its  value. 

Papers  that  continuously  publish  the  mis- 
leading productions  of  sensational  writers 
whose  primary  interest  is  sensation  regard- 
less of  truth,  ought  in  some  way  to  be  made 
to  feel  the  heavy  hand  of  public  condemna- 
tion. 

International  falsehoods  that  tend  to 
estrange  the  good  will  of  peoples  and  to 
plunge  them  into  conflict  is  a  crime  pecu- 
liarly heinous  and  should  be  suitably  pun- 
ished. The  time  to  prevent  war  is  not  when 
a  crisis  has  developed,  and  suspicions  and  en- 
mities have  become  so  acute  that  no  explana- 
tions are  credited — but  rather  months  and 
years  in  advance. 

From  the  great  tragedy  of  Europe  Amer- 
ica should  learn  that  full,  truthful  and  accu- 
rate information  in  regard  to  international 
affairs  Is  a  matter  of  momentous  importance. 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    83 


AFTER-WORD 

Just  as  the  manuscript  of  these  *War 
Scare  Stories"  goes  to  the  printer,  Secretary 
Lansing  has  made  pubHc  the  text  of  the 
* 'understanding"  agreed  upon  by  the  Japan- 
ese and  American  Governments  regarding 
their  respective  policies  in  regard  to  China. 
This  document  is  so  important  and  so  well 
fitted  to  dispel  misunderstandings  and  sus- 
picions that  it  seems  desirable  to  include  it 
here  and  also  some  of  the  paragraphs  of  the 
statement  issued  by  Secretary  Lansing  in  con- 
nection with  its  publication, 

"Department  .of  State, 
'Washington,  Hov.  2,  1917. 

"Excellency — I  have  the  honor  to  communicate 
herein  my  understanding  of  the  agreement  reached 
by  us  in  our  recent  conversation  touching  the  ques- 
tions of  mutual  interest  to  our  governments  relating 
to  the  republic  of  China. 

"In  order  to  silence  mischievous  reports  that  have 
from  time  to  time  been  circulated,  it  is  believed  by 
us  that  a  public  announcement  once  more  of  the 


84     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

desires  and  intentions  shared  by  our  two  govern- 
ments with  regard  to  China  is  advisable. 

"The  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Japan 
recognize  that  territorial  propinquity  creates  special 
relations  between  countries,  and,  consequently,  the 
government  of  the  United  States  recognizes  that 
Japan  has  special  interests  in  China,  particularly  in 
the  part  to  which  her  possessions  are  contiguous. 

"The  territorial  sovereignty  of  China,  neverthe- 
less, remains  unimpaired,  and  the  government  of 
the  United  States  has  every  confidence  in  the  re- 
peated assurances  of  the  Imperial  Japanese  govern- 
ment that  while  geographical  position  gives  Japan 
such  special  interests  they  have  no  desire  to  discrim- 
inate against  the  trade  of  other  nations  or  to  dis- 
regard the  commercial  rights  heretofore  granted 
by  China  in  treaties  with  other  powers. 

"The  governments  of  the  United  States  and  Japan 
deny  that  they  have  any  purpose  to  infringe  in  any 
way  the  independence  or  territorial  integrity  of 
China,  and  they  declare,  furthermore,  that  they 
always  adhere  to  the  principle  of  the  co-called 
'open  door'  or  equal  opportunity  for  commerce  and 
industry  in  China. 

"Moreover,  they  mutually  declare  that  they  are 
opposed  to  the  acquisition  by  any  government  of 
any  special  rights  or  privileges  that  would  affect 
the  independence  or  territorial  integrity  of  China 
or  that  would  deny  to  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  any 
country  the  full  enjoyment  of  equal  opportunity 
in  the  commerce  and  industry  of  China. 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  have  your  excellency  confirm 
this  understanding  of  the  agreement  reached  by  us. 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories     85 

"Accept,  excellency,  the  renewed  assurance  of  my 
highest  consideration. 

(Signed)         Robert  Lansing. 

"His  Excellency  Viscount  Kikujiro  Ishii,  Ambas- 
sador Extraordinary  and  Plenipotentiary  of  Japan, 
on  special  mission.'* 

In  his  statement  accompanying  the  announcement 
Secretary  Lansing  said: 

"Viscount  Ishii  and  the  other  Japanese  commis- 
sioners who  are  now  on  their  way  back  to  their 
country  have  performed  a  service  to  the  United 
States  as  well  as  to  Japan  which  is  of  the  highest 
value. 

"There  had  unquestionably  been  growing  up  be- 
tween the  peoples  of  the  two  countries  a  feeling  of 
suspicion  as  to  the  motives  inducing  the  activities 
of  the  other  in  the  far  East,  a  feeling  which,  if 
unchecked,  promised  to  develop  a  serious  situation. 
Rumors  and  reports  of  improper  intentions  were 
increasing  and  were  more  and  more  believed. 

"Legitimate  commercial  and  industrial  enterprises 
without  ulterior  motive  were  presumed  to  have 
political  significa,nce,  with  the  result  that  oppo- 
sition to  those  enterprises  was  aroused  in  the  other 
country. 

"The  attitude  of  constraint  and  doubt  thus  created 
was  fostered  and  encouraged  by  the  campaign  of 
falsehood  which  for  a  long  time  had  been  adroitly 
and  secretly  carried  on  by  Germans,  whose  govern- 
ment as  a  part  of  its  foreign  policy  desired  especially 
to  alienate  this  country  and  Japan  that  it  would  be 


86    Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

at  the  chosen  time  no  difficult  task  to  cause  a  rup- 
ture of  their  good  relations. 

''Unfortunately  there  were  people  in  both  coun- 
tries, many  of  whom  were  entirely  honest  in  their 
beliefs,  who  accepted  every  false  rumor  as  true, 
and  aided  the  German  propaganda  by  declaring  that 
their  own  government  should  prepare  for  the  con- 
flict, which  they  asserted  was  inevitable,  that  the 
interests  of  the  two  nations  in  the  Far  East  were 
hostile,  and  that  every  activity  of  the  other  country 
in  the  Pacific  had  a  sinister  purpose. 

"Fortunately  this  distrust  was  not  so  general  in 
either  the  United  States  or  Japan  as  to  affect  the 
friendly  relations  of  the  two  governments,  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that  the  feeling  of  suspicion  was  increas- 
ing and  the  untrue  reports  were  receiving  more 
and  more  credence  in  spite  of  the  earnest  efforts 
which  were  made  on  both  sides  of  the  Pacific  to 
counteract  a  movement  which  would  jeopardize  the 
ancient  friendship  of  the  two  nations. 

"The  visit  of  Viscount  Ishii  and  his  colleagues 
has  accommplished  a  great  change  of  opinion  in 
this  country.  By  frankly  denouncing  the  evil  influ- 
ences which  have  been  at  work  by  openly  proclaim- 
ing that  the  policy  of  Japan  is  not  one  of  aggres- 
sion and  by  declaring  that  there  is  no  intention  to 
take  advantage  commercially  or  industrially  of  the 
special  relations  to  China  created  by  geographical 
position,  the  representatives  of  Japan  have  cleared 
the  diplomatic  atmosphere  of  the  suspicions  which 
had  been  so  carefully  spread  by  our  enemies  and 
by  misguided  or  overzealous  people  in  both 
countries. 


Anti -Japanese  War-scare  Stories    87 

"In  a  few  days  the  propaganda  of  years  has  been 
wndone,  and  both  nations  are  now  able  to  see  how 
near  they  came  to  being  led  into  the  trap  which  had 
been  skillfully  set  for  them. 

"Throughout  the  conferences  which  have  taken 
place  Viscount  Ishii  has  shown  a  sincerity  and 
candor  which  dispelled  every  doubt  as  to  his  pur- 
pose and  brought  the  two  governments  into  an  atti- 
tude of  confidence  toward  each  other  which  made 
it  possible  to  discuss  every  question  with  frankness 
and  cordiality. 

"Approaching  the  subjects  in  such  a  spirit  and 
with  the  mutual  desire  to  remove  every  possible 
cause  of  controversy  the  negotiations  were  marked 
by  a  sincerity  and  good  will  which  from  the  first 
insured  their  success." 


The  above  documents  made  public  by  the 
Department  of  State  have  naturally  called 
forth  important  commendatory  editorials 
from  leading  papers  throughout  the  country. 
Significant,  however,  of  the  general  spirit  of 
the  Hearst  papers  in  reporting  these  docu- 
ments is  the  insertion  by  the  New  York 
American  (November  7,  191 7),  in  black- 
faced  type  of  the  following  sentence,  cal- 
culated to  instill  suspicion  and  maintain  ani- 
mosity In  the  minds  of  its  readers: 

**The  understandng  was  reached  without 
the  United  States  having  made  any  conces- 


88     Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories 

sions  concerning  the  question  of  Japanese 
immigration  to  this  country." 

Why  do  not  these  Hearst  papers  tell  their 
readers  that  Japan  settled  the  immigration 
question  ten  years  ago  by  the  ^^Gentlemen's 
Agreement/'  voluntarily  stopping,  without 
legislation  on  our  part,  all  new  labor  immi- 
gration from  Japan  to  this  country?  In  con- 
sequence of  the  rigid  enforcement  by  Japan 
of  this  ''Agreement"  not  only  has  there  been 
no  increase  of  Japanese  labor  in  America 
but  there  has  been  a  positive  decrease  of 
15,141  males  between  the  years  1908  and 
1916. 

The  relations,  moreover,  between  Japan- 
ese and  Americans  on  the  Pacific  Coast  have 
been  manifestly  improving  for  at  least  four 
years.  The  sympathetic  strike  of  Japanese 
waiters  with  the  Waiters'  Union  of  San  Fran- 
cisco (August,  19 1 6),  and  the  resolutions 
proposed  by  four  local  unions  at  the  annual 
Convention  (October,  19 16)  of  the  Cali- 
fornia State  Federation  of  Labor,  asking  for 
authority  to  organize  Japanese  labor,  are  but 
two  of  many  signs  that  the  irritation  that 
had  been  growing  in  California  for  some 
years  is  now  subsiding. 

These  are   facts  of  importance  that  all 


Anti-Japanese  War-scare  Stories    89 

Americans  should  know.  The  press  should 
bring  forward  the  evidences  of  the  new  situ- 
ation, instead  of  continuing  to  inflame  the 
feelings  of  their  readers  by  insinuations  that 
are  insulting  to  the  dignity  and  honor  of 
Japan  and  imply  a  situation  that  in  fact  does 
not  exist. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


BOOKS  AND  PAMPHLETS 

ON 

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By  SIDNEY  L.  GULICK 

BOOKS 

Evolution  of  the  Japanese — Social  and  Psychic. 

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PAMPHLETS 
Anti- Japanese  War-scare  Stories.    $.25. 
Asia's  Appeal  to  America.    $.10. 
Adequate  Protection  for  Aliens.    $.05. 
A  Comprehensive  Immigration  Policy  and  Program.  $.io. 
China  and  the  Nations.    $,03. 
New  Japan  and  Her  Problems.    $.03. 
America's  Asiatic  Problem  and  its  Solution  in  a  Nut- 
shell.   $.03. 

These  books  and  pamphlets  can  be  secured  from 

World  Alliance  for  International  Friendship 

105  East  22D  Street,  New  York  City. 


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